www.hovedsteder.blogg.no is a Norway-based blog about the capitals of the world, with a focus on tourism and travel, the environment, diplomatic affairs, lifestyle, culture and entertainment, food and drink. See also our travel blog at www.minbestereise.blogg.no – Contact us at [email protected]
Yerevan, the capital city of Armenia has been granted a loan Worth ?1.9 million (£1.4m) to install energy efficient lighting, enerylivenews.com reported.
The current street lighting network in Yerevan consists of “old, inefficient and environmentally-polluting mercury-based lights”, according to the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).
The project will help introduce LED lighting, a control and monitoring system, pole replacement and renovation as well as power cable replacement.
It is expected to help cut energy usage by 64% and result in annual power cost savings.
The Municipality of Yerevan has signed an agreement with the EBRD and the Ministry of Finance of Armenia for the project.
The grant is provided by the Eastern European Energy Efficiency and Environment Partnership (E5P Fund), which is managed by the EBRD and gets contributions from the European Union and other donor countries.
www.hovedsteder.blogg.no is a Norway-based blog about the capitals of the world, with a focus on tourism and travel, the environment, diplomatic affairs, lifestyle, culture and entertainment, food and drink. See also our travel blog at www.minbestereise.blogg.no – Contact us at [email protected]
I Aserbaidsjans hovedstad Baku er det store idrettsarrangement The 2015 European Games – også kjent som Baku 2015 European Games eller kort og godt Baku 2015, kommet godt i gang etter åpningsseremonien 12.juni. Det var president Ilham Aliyev som stod for den offisielle åpningen av lekene på Baku National Stadium.
6067 utøvere fra hele 50 land deltar i lekene som består av 253 øvelser i 20 idrettsgrener. Norge deltar med 57 utøvere. Lekene blir avsluttet 28.juni.
www.hovedsteder.blogg.no is a Norway-based blog about the capitals of the world, with a focus on tourism and travel, the environment, diplomatic affairs, lifestyle, culture and entertainment, food and drink. See also our travel blog at www.minbestereise.blogg.no – Contact us at [email protected]
It is common knowledge that air pollution negatively affects your health, as well as ecosystems and living organisms, however thanks to technological advances, some companies and/or enterprises can contribute to improving the environment by using ecologically friendly machinery, the www.georgiatoday.ge website reports.
Hotels & Preference Hualing Tbilisi, a 5 star hotel located at Tbilisi Sea, has implemented HVAC, so called absorption chillers, instead of old fashioned electronic ones, which uses heat to drive the refrigeration cycle and produces chilled water while consuming just a small amount of electricity to run the pumps on the unit.
According to Petter Lillvik, the General Manager of the hotel, the primary advantages of absorption chillers are lower electricity costs, higher efficiency, elimination of environmentally harmful CFCs, quiet operation and being vibration free.
As stated by the 2011 report of GEO-Cities Tbilisi: status and trends, integrated environmental assessment, direct linkages were identified between air pollution and human health effects which called for long-term observations on air quality and specific epidemiological studies, which has not been conducted in Georgia for a long time.
According to the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs of Georgia statistical data of the National Centre of Disease Control and Public Health [2010] suggests that the number of registered diseases which, among other factors, can be associated with poor air quality, such as lung and larynx cancer, respiratory, blood and vascular diseases have been increasing in Georgia and its capital, in particular.
“Eco-friendly hotels have grown in demand in the 21st century all over the world and being such a hotel has given us the chance to protect nature, save costs, prolong the life cycle of the hotel equipment and recover the ozone layer. All these factors are vitally important for contributing to our healthy future,” explains Lillvik adding that being located on the ecologically clean shorelines of Tbilisi Sea, the hotel offers a perfect gateway to fresh air and a calm, relaxing atmosphere.
Built in a modern European contemporary style, the hotel offers 247 guestrooms and suites providing a natural, comfortable and elegant stay. In addition, the hotel comprises a Western restaurant with International cuisine, serving organic food lounge, authentic Chinese restaurant, recreation center with indoor swimming pool, sauna, gym, yoga and 3D golf simulator.
With its high standards and environmentally oriented management, housekeepers use non-toxic cleaning agents and laundry detergents for 100% organic sheets, towels and mattresses.
Furthermore, the hotel offers a special selection of pillows for a healthy sleep. All pillows are ecologically clean and healthy and the guest can choose from a variety of buckwheat, rose, bamboo, charcoal, memory foam, antibacterial and neck protection pillows.
www.hovedsteder.blogg.no is a Norway-based blog about the capitals of the world, with a focus on tourism, travel, transport, the environment, politics, diplomatic affairs, lifestyle, culture and entertainment, food and drink.
Tskhinvali, capital of South Ossetia, has always differed from other cities of the Caucasus in its unique architectural appearance. At the beginning of its history, Tskhinvali was one of the main crossroads for armies and commercial caravans.
This led to the motley population of the city. The old part of the city has always attracted guests and citizens. The Old City has never been isolated from the rest of the city. There used to be the Ossetian Settlement, the Jewish District, the Armenian and Georgian Streets, the Russian website www.vestnikkavkaza.net reports.
Today there is no pure old Tskhinvali – a lot of buildings were destroyed. The city is being built over again, and this is not always favorable for the preservation of historical memory. However, the community tries to protect the historic appearance of Tskhinval.
Last year an enterprising group of citizens stood a stand against the construction of an eight-storey building in the center of the city.
The new building of the South Ossetian University should become the soul of reconstructed Tskhinval. It should be built on the site of the university which was destroyed in 2008, on its historic site of Moscow Street. New buildings will be constructed on the historic site of the only university in the republic.
Vadim Tedeyev, the head of the SOSU, says that the new architecture of the complex won’t break the harmony of “Old Tskhinvali.”
“The project of the university considers the true architectural appearance of the city. Classical forms and details of the building are clearly depicted on the front of it. We have adapted classics to modernity. This is the neoclassicism which perfectly fits the city’s environment,” Tedeyev told EADaily.
The new complex will look more luxury in comparison with the previous one. There will be more convenient facilities for students and tutors.
The construction of the new building is included in the Investment Program of Encouragement of Socio-Economic Development of the Republic for 2015-2017.
The founder of the SOSU, the President of South Ossetia, Leonid Tibilov, promised that the complex would be built by 2017. “Constructing the university on its historic site is a tribute to the history of our peoples. In the future the new building will become a symbol of the capital,” Tibilov promised.
South Ossetia is a breakaway republic in Georgia, recognized by Russia, Venezuela, Nicaragua and Nauru, along with Nagorno-Karabakh, Abkhazia , Transniester, Luhansk People’s Republic, and Donetsk People’s Republic, none of them internationally recognized.
www.hovedsteder.blogg.no is a Norway-based blog about the capitals of the world, with a focus on tourism, travel, transport, the environment, politics, diplomatic affairs, lifestyle, culture and entertainment, food and drink.
Moscow will support resuming railway traffic between Sukhumi and Tbilisi, but the final decision should be made in Georgia and Abkhazia, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said after talks with his Abkhazian counterpart Vyacheslav Chirikba, TASS reported.
“The Russian side is ready for such consultations, considering that the Russian Railways company is operating part of the Abkhazian railroad in accordance with inter-state agreements,” Lavrov said. “However, the final decision should be made by the direct participants in the process – Abkhazia and Georgia,” he added.
“Armenia is interested in this as well,” the minister noted.
Talking about ensuring control over border between Russia and Abkhazia, Chirikba said that it is important to ease border crossing between the two countries.
“Our aim is to ensure the most convenient regime of border crossing,” Chirikba said. “We are not talking about opening the border, we need to make it transparent, so that people can freely cross the border on foot or by car,” the minister added.
“This process cannot move forward without simultaneously strengthening the Abkhazian-Georgian border along the Ingur River,” Chirikba said.
www.hovedsteder.blogg.no is a blog about the capitals of the world, with a focus on tourism, travel, transport, politics, diplomatic affairs, lifestyle, culture and entertainment, food and drink.
Kim Kardashian, her med datteren North i armene, og ektemannen Kanye West til høyre, i mørk frakk. Foto: AFP, Getty Images
Det kunne virke som “hele” Jerevan var på beina for å få med seg all viraken da den amerikanske TV-personligheten, realitystjernen, modellen og forretningskvinnen Kim Kardashian (34) og hennes mann, rapperen og plateprodusenten Kanye West (37), og deres to små barn, besøkte Armenia og landets hovedstad nylig.
Superkjendisparet var omgitt av mange skuelystne og et stort pressekorps over alt hvor de viste seg. Kardashian-familien er av armensk opphav, og besøket i Jerevan fikk massiv dekning i armenske og internasjonale medier.
På programmet stod blant annet besøk ved flere av hovedstadens attraksjoner, og paret hadde også møte med landets statsminister, og fungerende president, Hovik Abrahamyan.
The Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Tourism will conduct service quality inspections in Baku hotels, the abc.az website reported.
According to the Ministry, service quality inspections on the threshold of the Baku European Games will be conducted in April.
“Such inspections aim to check if the services meet the state standards, whether the shortcomings were corrected and services improved”, the Ministry says.
The Ministry also informs that last inspections in Baku hotels were conducted in October 2014.
Radisson Blu Hotel will be opened in Yerevan in early 2016 after reorganization of Golden Palace hotel, the Armenian ARKA News agency reported,
Arild Hovland, Senior Business Development Vice President at Carlson Rezidor, and Karen Janoyan, Golden Palace CEO, signed Thursday an appropriate contract in the presence of Armenian Economy Minister Karen Chshmarityan and Yerevan Mayor Taron Margaryan.
«Provision of Carlson Rezidor hotel services is a landmark event for Armenia,» Chshmarityan said. «It is very significant for the country’s tourist industry, since it stresses the importance of its role at international tourism market and shows that Armenia is strengthening its position on the world tourism map.»
In his words, Carlson Rezidor Group intends to make investments in various areas and ensure new services and visits of new tourists to Armenia.
“Armenia’s government will keep taking steps in this direction and we will continue supporting all the initiatives of this kind,» Chshmarityan said. «The most favorable environment will be created for doing business in this area and investing in it.»
Hovland, on his side, said that the company is inspired with an opportunity to establish a business in Armenia and stressed that Rezidor and Raddison Blu are quite prestigious brands in Russia, CIS and Baltic countries.
There are 54 hotels under these brands in the region. He said that this is a very good marketing step for Armenia. In his words, Carlson Rezidor is interested in business tourists, who constitute an important segment of hotel tourism, but Armenia also has a rich history and many historic and cultural sites.
Besides, he said, Armenia has communities worldwide, which are one of the targeted segments as well, and since Rezidor has hotels in some European countries, this gives room for working in this direction.
Karen Janoyan, CEO of Golden Palace Hotel, said that after reorganization the number of rooms will increase from present 66 to 140, and the hotel will be ready to host guests in the first quarter of 2016.
Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group is one of the world’s largest and most dynamic hotel companies.
It has an expanding portfolio of more than 1,350 hotels in operation and under development, a global footprint covering over 105 countries and territories, and a powerful set of global brands: Quorvus Collection, Radisson Blu, Radisson, Radisson Red, Park Plaza, Par Inn by Radisson and Country Inns & Suites by Carlson.
The capital city of Abkhazia, one of the Russian-occupied regions of Georgia, is now being referred to as “Sokhumi” instead of “Sukhumi” on Google Maps after one Georgian internet user challenged the online spelling, agenda.ge reports.
The change, which the Google Maps administration has already approved, was initiated by Georgian man Giorgi Balakhadze.
Balakhadze asked for the spelling change and cited the oldest English-language encyclopaedia Encyclopædia Britannica for the correct spelling of the capital city. Google Maps approved the change several days after Balakhadze’s request.
“This might be a small thing but this is one of my efforts to fight against Russia’s toponymy policy”, Balakhadze wrote on his Facebook page. “And now enjoy – Sokhumi is on the map”.
Abkhazia is situated in the north-western corner of Georgia. Russia recognised it as an independent state in 2008, immediately after the five-day Russia-Georgia war over Georgia’s other breakaway region, Tskhinvali region, often referred to as South Ossetia, or Republic of South Ossetia.
This move of Russia has been assessed numerous times as a “violation of international Law” by the global community.
Over the years there has been confusion regarding the international use of the city’s name.
In the Georgian language the city is called Sokhumi, while Sukhumi is the name used in Russian. As long as the world agrees Abkhazia is part of Georgia, the Georgian population believes it illogical and even offensive for the city to be referred to as Sukhumi in English texts.
From now on Google Maps will only refer to Sokhumi using this spelling.
