Baku, Fineko/abc.az. A meeting with Georgy Duka, the president of Academy of Sciences of Moldova, took place yesterday in the Presidium of the National Academy of Sciences of Azerbaijan (AMEA).

The AMEA press service informed that the meeting goal was expansion and dynamical development of scientific relations between Azerbaijan and Moldova, familiarizing with reforms conducted in the system of this country’s academy, its experience and success in this field.

“AMEA president Makhmud Kerimov said told of the necessity of goal-oriented reforms in this area and pointed out that bringing of Azerbaijani science up to the level answering to world development tendencies and international standards is an actual matter today,” it was reported.

Mr. Duka, in his turn, told of reforms in science and innovation process in Moldova and emphasized that in the country he represents this issue is one of the actual ones. He underlined that this problem first of all appear in case of insufficiency of financial resources demanding for scientific area and as a result it causes reduction of intensity of researches. Besides, there are such problems as obsolete and spoiling experimental basis, brain leakage, liquidation of industry science, non-purposeful spending of budget funds, etc.

The event was attended by Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Thien Nhan, HCM City People’s Committee Chairman Le Hoang Quan, Deputy Foreign Minister Vu Dung and Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism and President of the Vietnam Olympic Committee Nguyen Danh Thai.

Also present were Deputy Head of the 2008 Beijing Organising Board Li Binghua and Chinese Ambassador to Vietnam Hu Qianwen.

The torch relay in Vietnam’s largest economic hub involved 60 people who are municipal leaders and sports managers, coaches and sports people with Olympic experiences, young talents and donors.

The parade marched on a 9-km road from the municipal Opera House through the heart of the city. At 20h 10’ the torch brightened the Military Zone 7 symposium to finish the relay.

Municipal People’s Committee Deputy Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Thu Ha said the Olympic torch relay, the first ever held in Vietnam, has contributed to strengthening and promoting traditional friendship between the Vietnamese and Chinese people.

Read the complete story

Couples that have a very good relationship are not just lucky. Successful, loving relationships do not just happen. The couples that have loving relationships are taking specific actions that people in unsuccessful relationships are not taking.

ACTION 1 - KINDNESS TO SELF AND OTHER

Think for a moment about how you go through your day. Are you focused on what you don’t like in yourself or your partner? Do you spend much of your thinking time judging yourself or your partner? Or, do you make the spiritual attribute of kindness to yourself and others, including your partner, your highest priority?

People in successful relationships treat themselves and their partner with kindness kind words, kind actions, kind looks, kind listening, and kind thoughts. It is far more important to them to be kind than to try to control their partner with anger, judgment, criticism, irritation, blame, resistance or withdrawal.

Read the complete story

“I just want a friend to talk to.”

“Friends, anyone?”

So begin dozens upon dozens of listings under the “strictly platonic” section of this region’s Craigslist, an online classifieds site. They read like singles’ ads (“Must love dogs,” “I’m loyal and intelligent...”), and the similarities to modern romance (and its evolution in the Internet age) don’t stop there. The prize these folks seek may be as elusive as true love: a good friend. Not virtual, but a live, flesh-and-blood best bud. They’re hoping the Web can help.

Few would argue that we, as a society, are desperate for connections; desperate to maintain and re-establish old ones, to make new ones. It doesn’t take much to “make” a friend in the virtual world. Just a few clicks of the mouse and you’ve added a new face to your friend cache.

About half of adults worldwide (and half of U.S. teens) who use the Web have made friends there, according to recently released findings of Norton Online Living Report, which polled about 9,000 Web users worldwide.

The report also found that about half of adult Internet users who’ve made online buddies say they like their online relationships “as much or more than friendships made offline.”

Read the complete story

You've just gone through the honeymoon phase of your new relationship and the other shoe's about to drop. Find out how you can navigate through arguments, spend some time apart and communicate to keep your bond strong. Most of all, learn how to make sure problems don't recur like a bad case of athlete's foot.

1- She doesn't (fully) trust you
She suspects that you eye every female in view. Why? Probably because you possess the sense of sight and as such, you notice the opposite sex. This, in turn, makes her jealous. While she may be partly right, she's mostly wrong. Sure you look at women, but only casually and briefly. After all, by checking out women, your hardwired-by-evolution male brain is just doing what it's programmed to do. This doesn't mean you actually want to pursue these women. Your lady needs to know and understand this.

What to do:
Invite her out with your buddies and show her that you only have eyes for her.

Another great way to show her that she's overreacting is to play the "do you think that guy/girl is cute?" game and show her that it's natural to notice attractive people. By making it an innocent act, you reduce this human instinct to its most unthreatening level...

Read the complete story

Here are some insights from leaders in the Intuit Leadership Development Organization about the importance of peer coaching relationships. I didn’t write about how to get started … but obviously we all know “peer coaching” happens all the time between close friends informally. I think it’s effective to make it formal … more to come.

What is peer coaching? (my crack at a definition) Peer coaching relationships are deep, personal connections you have with a few individuals (who face similar challenges as you do) with whom you can give and get earnest feedback.
Why is peer coaching important? More so than mentor-to-mentee relationships? Or leader-to-direct report relationships?

There are times when a relationship ends in separation or divorce. This can produce feelings of loneliness, anger, loss and disappointment. Research has shown that having a strong social support can prove invaluable, as can talking things out with a caring professional. Counselling can help deal with the emotional and practical issues that arise from separation and help you get on with your life.

There comes a time in life when we just have to let go of the past, let go of the hurts and the pain, and just live again. Finding our soulmate is something we all want. To do that, we have to learn to let the walls down and take a chance again. We have to learn to talk, to listen, to trust, to have compassion, and above all to love unconditionally. The one that truly loves us will be there holding us up as we hold them up. The only place to fall is into each other.

What if I told you there’s one simple question you can ask your spouse every day that would completely change your relationship for the better? If your marriage is lukewarm at best, asking your spouse this question could add new life and vitality to your relationship.

Wives, imagine if your husband came walking through the door after returning from a tough day at work and, after the usual greetings, asked you this: “Honey, what can I do for you that would make your day?”

Then, once you picked your jaw up off the floor, imagine being able to tell him that one thing that would make your day better – and then seeing him drop everything to do it.

Husbands, how incredible would it be to have your wife call you at the office and ask, “Honey, what can I do for you that would make your day?”

The trouble with this question is that it’s simple to ask, but sometimes following through on the request is difficult. Your spouse could ask you to do that one thing you dread more than anything else. Or he or she could ask you to do something that’s not very pleasant, it may hurt you, or it might ruin your day to do it. It might cause you to be vulnerable in ways you don’t want to consider.

Read the complete story

Provisional marriage figures for 2006 show that 23 out of 1,000 unmarried men were choosing to marry — down from 25 men per 1,000 the previous year. The marriage rate for women fell from 22 to 21 per thousand for the period.
 
The number of marriages has been in decline. In 2006 there were 237,000 — the lowest annual number since 1895.
 
The family campaigners are accusing ruling Labour party and say it is “killing marriage off”. Couples are also now marrying at an average of almost five years later.
 
It is only the Indians and other Asian families are keeping the tradition alive and helping the rate from falling even lower.
 
While the number of single, divorced or widowed people rose in 2006, those choosing to marry fell, producing the lowest marriage rates since 1862.
 
Figures by the Office for National Statistics show the average age for all marriages has risen by almost five years for men since 1991, to 36.4 years, and just over 4.5 years for women, to 33.5. The average age at first marriage is now 31.8 years for men, and 29.7 years for women.

Read the complete story