Number of university entrants drops by 10%.

MOSCOW, August 26 (Itar-Tass)- The number of university entrants has dropped by 10% this year due to the country's ongoing demographic crisis and low birthrate.

"Sadly, but the demographic problem will haunt us until 2020," Russian
Education Minister Andrei Fursenko said at one of his recent meetings with
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.
The minister said the entrance exams this year had been less nervous
than before. He noted higher interest in technical professions among the
school-leavers.
"Moreover, some universities have asked us to increase the number of
government-financed places in engineering professions. The competition was
higher than we expected," Fursenko said. He promised that additional funds
would be allocated from the state budget to create more places for
students who want to become engineers.
"This is particularly true of regional institutions of high learning
where local enterprise have a great demand for engineers and guarantee
future jobs to the graduates," Fursenko said.

.Russia to host first international gypsy jazz festival.

MOSCOW, AUGUST 26 (Itar-Tass) - Russia will host its first
International Gypsy Jazz festival this year. It will take place in Moscow
on September 21-22 on the initiative of French guitarist Frederick
Belinsky, a descendant of the 19th-century Russian literary critic
Vissarion Belinsky (1811-1848).
This year, the Gypsy Jazz festival will be devoted to the centenary
anniversary of the birth of Belgian guitarist Jango Reinhardt. Maestro
Frederick Belinsky calls Django Reinhardt his inspirer and the founder of
the gypsy genre in jazz. In France, it's known as Jazz Manouche (Gypsy
Swing): rousing tunes of love, passion and freedom. Reinhardt turned an
acoustic guitar into a solo jazz instrument and created a totally new
school of jazz performance.
The first international Gypsy Jazz festival will draw together
jazz musicians from three countries at the Moscow International House of
Music (MMDM). They include violinist Didier Lockwood, the cavalry of the
Order of French Legion, guitarist Stochelo Rosenberg of the Netherlands
and a number of Russian jazz orchestras.
Frederick Belinsky is a welcome guest at European jazz summits. He
is the master of quick improvisations. Belinsky has given performances in
Moscow many times.
He has played for French President Nicolas Sarkozy, the ex-Soviet
president Mikhail Gorbachev Gorbachev and Moroccan King Mohamed VI.

.New alpine skiing resort to open in Altai.

MOSCOW, AUGUST 26 (Itar-Tass) - Russia's Altai region offers excellent
opportunities for tourism. The construction of a large alpine-skiing
resort "Manzherok" will make the region attractive to tourists round the
year in all seasons. The resort may also be a training camp for Russian
athletes and a venue for international sport events. The Russian Alpine
Skiing and Snowboard Federation supported the project in June.
The alpine-skiing center is located 35 kilometers away from
Gorno-Altaisk. Thirty-two alpine skiing tracks with a total length of 60
kilometers and 15 raising lifts will be built on the slopes of the
Sinyukha Mountain near the Manzherok village.
The center will begin operation in autumn. It will be able to receive
up to 400,000 tourists.
Robert Benoi, the director of France Neige International, said the
Republic of Altai had an untapped potential for developing alpine skiing.

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