The Daily Dispatch is our editorial take on the past day’s news. You can subscribe here to get it in your mailbox. Click to write to us! We’d love to hear your ideas and opinions. Giorgi Tskhakaia has been scanning the news for you.
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PM GIVES PEP TALK TO THE JOBLESS Lounging under the noon shadow and against a backdrop of leafy orchards, PM Giorgi Gakharia unveiled an ultimate formula to tackle unemployment that has soared owing to virus-related furloughs and layoffs. “In the past few days I’ve heard lots of burly lads ranting in the city that there are no tourists coming [to Georgia] – wailing how can they manage – and begging for help from Government,” bemoaned the PM. “Everyone, who’s eager to labor, is free to do it without whining and pointing the finger at others,” preached Gakharia to the work-capable portion of the nation. Not exactly the comforting words the [apparently] not-sufficiently-virile jobless were hoping for.
Meanwhile, Georgian TOURISM IS STUCK IN LIMBO Hopes that foreign travelers will flock to their beloved tourism hotspots soon again may be frustrated. As reported by the Government, Israel has asked Georgia to postpone resuming travel as it was hit by a fresh, second outbreak of infections. Public health concerns will always prevail over material needs, stressed the PM. On this score – he’s got a point.
OPEN SKIES – BUT IN A BAD WAY Defense Ministry is one among many affected by across-the-board spending cuts – part of Government’s recent endeavor to make up for bloated fiscal deficit. Yesterday it was revealed that budget sequestering had hit Georgia’s unguarded heavens – its airspace. GEL 30 million (that’s USD 10 million) will be saved due to a hold-up in delivering a batch of products manufactured by France, Defense Committee chair told reporters, refraining from going into details. In all likelihood, talk is about anti-aircraft missile systems and other sophisticated equipment that Georgia purchased from France back in 2015. Ominous news.
A TRIAL BY FIRE (OF SORTS) A harrowing experience awaits thousands of young Georgians taking college entrance exams this summer. The NCDC, chief public health authority, issued elaborate guidance to hedge against increased risks of spreading the pathogen. Test-takers – obliged to wear masks from start to finish – will have to spend hours in stuffy rooms and oven-like temperatures, without any air conditioning. Not the most propitious condition, to put it mildly, to marshal the best of your cognitive abilities…
That’s full lid for today!