Armenian News... A Topalian... 9 editorials
Panorama, Armenia
Feb 18 2019
Armenia’s permanent population drops in a year: statistics
Armenia’s permanent population shrank by 7,600 people last year to stand at 2,965,100 as of 1 January 2019, according to the latest figures released by the Statistical Committee of Armenia.
The statistics show that in 2018 the population of capital city Yerevan grew to 1,080,100 people from the previous year’s 1,076,400.
The regions with the largest population are Armavir and Ararat with 264,600 and 257,100 people respectively. Vayots Dzor is the least populated region in Armenia with 49,300 residents.
The average age of Armenia's permanent population was 36.5 years as of the beginning of 2018 (36.2 years in 2017) – 34.5 years for men and 38.2 years for women.
In January-December 2018, the population viability rate, i.e. the ratio of birth and death rates stood at 142.3% against the 138.8% recorded in the same period of 2017.
An estimated number of 36,502 babies were born in Armenia last year, while the number was 37,700 in 2017, 40,592 in 2016 and 41,763 in 2015.
Meantime, Armenia saw a rate of 258 divorces per 1,000 marriages last year, with 259 divorce cases recorded in 2017.
Armenpress.am
PM unveils checklist leading to economic revolution
15 February, 2019
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has presented 15 points that the government should focus on in order to advance the economic revolution.
“Certainly the government still has to adopt the list of actions stemming from its action plan, but I would like to differentiate this list from the list of actions that will encourage economic revolution,” the PM said at today’s Cabinet meeting.
He then listen the 15 points.
Revise all investment proposals that have been submitted until now, inventorize their process, uncover problems concerning their implementation, centralize the information at the Ministry of Economic Development and Investments,
Compile a roadmap of simplifying regulations, including with the goal of solving the predictable accessibility problem of water, gas and electricity,
Accelerate the work on creating the Armenian Investment Fund, which will carry out accompanying of investment programs,
The seasonal employment period is opening now, develop a mechanism so that citizens will not be deprived of social or family benefits in the event of being hired for seasonal employment,
Register all vacancies existing in Armenia, per wages, addresses and companies,
Quickly discover those people who are [re-paying] 100,000 drams and more in monthly loans and are simultaneously benefiting from the system of benefits,
Maintain the issue of lowering bank interest rates in the agenda and develop a strategy,
Develop effective mechanisms of crediting micro-businesses and animal husbandry,
Launch full swing works for creating Educational-Training (vocational) Centers,
Activate and develop all those educational centers whose aim is to teach people business skills. With this purpose, carry out joint projects with the public and other television broadcasters,
Activate the involvement of the private sector in reviving and activating specialized educational facilities,
Increase the efficiency of budgetary projects of introducing drip irrigation, anti-hailstorm networks and other agricultural new technologies so that projects envisaged by the budget get fully fulfilled,
Implement inventory of reservoir and road construction projects and initiate new projects, at the same time by negotiating with donor organizations,
Inventorize export mechanisms of meat and meat products and assist the development of these mechanisms,
Get ready for the fruit and vegetable export season, be convinced in the practicality of the current mechanisms and create guarantees of market accessibility for new potential exporters,” the PM said.
Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan
Armenpress.am
15 February, 2019
State Oversight Service recovers hundreds of millions in misused funds
The State Oversight Service of Armenia has recovered 827,000,000 drams in misused funds from 2018 until 2019.
State Oversight Service chief Davit Sanasaryan told reporters that 350,000,000 alone was recovered as a result of a probe at the Agrarian University of Armenia.
Sanasaryan says agents of the service are currently investigating suspected abuses in various bodies, namely at the Yerevan State Medical University.
“There are different results, but it would be inappropriate for me to speak about it now. We will disclose it when we finish. I suppose we will finish in late March,” he said.
Acording to Sanasaryan, studies at the Armenian Youth Foundation have also been concluded. “As you know, there was a criminal case concerning this foundation, we have found out how the funds were spent. However, I cannot speak about the results of the studies at this moment,” he said.
Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan
Armenpress.am
15 February, 2019
Yerevan gets rid of prehistoric ‘marshrutkas’
Yerevan will decommission 450 public microbuses, known as marshrutkas, from 2020, Mayor Hayk Marutyan told reporters today.
The marshrutkas are Russian-made Gazel vans which lack modern safety requirements.
“The law envisages a 15-year commissioning of these microbuses. And only next year 450 microbuses will be de-commissioned from the network, when daily nearly 900 are serving Yerevan,” he said.
The mayor says the City Hall is currently on the way of solving the problem.
“We are currently trying to urgently solve these issues. If we say that the new network will be ready in two years, it leaves us only to understand what we are gonna do during these two years. There are several ways to solve the issue, we will take the most optimal solution,” he said.
Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan
Armenpress.am
16 February, 2019
Checkmate? Armenia mulls scrapping chess lessons from schools amid varying opinions
Chess player and prolific chess author Irving Chernev once said “Every chess master was once a beginner”.
Strategy, discipline, math, patience, seems like the list of what chess can teach you can be quite long, but should it be taught in schools compulsory? This is the question that the education authorities in Armenia are currently discussing.
Since 2011, Armenia is breeding chess prodigies in public schools with a compulsory chess lesson in its curriculums. Chess in Armenia is highly popular today, as the country has produced many renowned grandmasters over the years.
But now, education authorities doubt whether or not chess should be a compulsory lesson at schools.
Since the introduction of the program, parents have claimed that their children's school curriculum was already complicated and overloaded.
The Ministry of Education and Science intends to scrap a few lessons from curriculums in the new academic year program as part of reforms. One of the lessons under consideration is chess.
Minister Arayik Harutyunyan had said that the issue of keeping or removing chess lessons from curriculums is under discussion. According to him, there are problems and complaints concerning the lesson, mostly related to homework and teaching.
It took 6 years for the Chess Federation of Armenia and the Chess Academic Research Institute to introduce the lesson in schools.
Vahan Sargsyan, Deputy Director of the Chess Academic Research Institute, argues that studies show chess to be among the favorite lessons of children in schools. “Studies show that chess leaves a positive impact on intellectual qualities and mentality. It is developing a creative mentality in children,” he said.
However, not all parents are happy with the lessons.
Satenik Melkonyan, a mother whose school-aged child is learning chess, insists that the lesson causes difficulties for her. She says that parents themselves are also facing difficulties. Parents are suggesting a more natural approach, i.e. if a child demonstrates love and potential for learning chess, then they should go to special chess schools voluntarily.
“It’s already two years that my daughter is attending chess lessons at school, but I have to say that first of all we are having great troubles with homework since I personally don’t know chess. My child has high progress in all lessons, except chess. I believe that if a child has love and potential for chess, then there are separate schools for it. It would be more appropriate for them to go to these schools. The majority of other parents of children from the same class agree with me”, she said.
Chess grandmaster Smbat Lputyan, the founder of the Armenian Chess Academy, argues that chess is one of Armenia’s trademarks. “Chess is developing rapidly around the world. Armenia is the only one to have already passed through it. We are passing down our experience to many countries of the world,” he told ARMENPRESS.
Chess is a compulsory lesson in 1500 public schools in Armenia and Artsakh since 2011.
As of 2018, more than 50,000 school children at the 2nd, 3rd and 4th grades are being taught chess annually.
Teachers are undergoing special training programs three times every year.
When the program was adopted 8 years ago in Armenian schools, the decision was widely covered and praised by international journalists and chess experts.
Norwegian chess grandmaster and the current World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen was among those praising the initiative.
“I think that Armenia’s such approach, especially including chess in school program, sets a wonderful example to the whole world. That is a great step”, Carlsen said during his visit to Armenia in 2014.
“The child is constantly making strategic decisions, assessing the situation before making a move - I think this is a great benefit for society”, Lputyan had said in 2018 for an interview with the BBC.
Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan
Armenpress.am
18 February, 2019
Armenia wants to purchase 12 Russian SU-30SM multirole fighter aircrafts
Armenia plans to acquire 4 Russian SU-30SM multirole fighter aircrafts by the end of 2019 or early 2020, but, in general, Yerevan wants to purchase 12 such fighter aircrafts, Defense minister Davit Tonoyan said during the IDEX-2019 international defense exhibition, RIA Novosti reported.
“We continue the talks over the supply of the next batch of SU-30SM multirole fighter aircrafts. Everything will depend on how quickly that products will be ready. We plan to receive the first batch by the end of 2019, in the extreme case, in early 2020”, he said.
Asked, overall, how many fighter aircrafts Armenia would like to purchase, the defense minister said the talk concerns one squadron (12 fighter aircrafts).
Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan
Armenpress.am
18 February, 2019
His Holiness Aram I awards renowned composer Tigran Mansurian
His Holiness Aram I, Catholicos of the Great House of Cilicia, awarded People’s Artist of Armenia, Professor, Composer Tigran Mansurian with the Knight Order, the Catholicosate said, reports Armenpress.
His Holiness Aram I said the national values are a guarantee for the people’s existence. He stated that Tigran Mansurian has dedicated his entire life to music, and during these years his works have been performed both in Armenia and abroad.
Catholicos Aram I stated that at this stage of his life Mansurian also continues creating by enriching his musical heritage.
At the end Aram I delivered prayer and wished good health, new achievements to the renowned composer.
Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan
Armenpress.am
18 February, 2019
Switzerland’s highest court rejects complaint against raising Armenian Genocide-themed monument
Switzerland’s highest court has rejected the opposition raised by several Genevans to a recently-unveiled monument commemorating the Armenian genocide in the city, ARMENPRESS reports, citing Swissinfo.
The decision published by the Federal Court on Monday rejected claims by residents that the monument would lead to the area becoming a site of demonstrations, or even conflict between members of the Armenian and Turkish communities.
“Residents can appeal when they are definitely, or at least with sufficient probability, affected by the repercussions of such a decision,” the court wrote. This was not the case for the monument in Parc Tremblay, Geneva.
The decision should bring to an end the long saga of the monument, which was unveiled in April 2018 after a decade of debates and delay.
The Armenian Genocide was recognized by the parliament of Geneva in 2001 and by the Swiss federal parliament in 2003.
America Has No Right to Tell Armenia
Not to Send a Humanitarian Squad to Syria
By Harut Sassounian
Publisher
The U.S. government recently created a new and unnecessary controversy, this time with the Republic of Armenia.
It all started when the Armenian government decided to send a non-combat humanitarian squad of 83 doctors, sappers, and other servicemen to Syria to provide assistance to the important, but dwindling Armenian community in Aleppo. Armenia had previously sent
four airlifts of humanitarian assistance to the Syrian people.
A Russian cargo plane flew the Armenian squad to Aleppo on February 8. Apparently, this small role played by Russia was enough to provoke theire of the cold-warriors in Washington.
On February 13, the US Embassy in Armenia released an announcement by the State Department criticizing the dispatch of the Armenian humanitarian squad to Syria.
“We do not support any engagement with Syrian military forces, whether that engagement is to provide assistance to civilians or is military in nature. Nor do we support any cooperation between Armenia and Russia for this mission,” stated the State Department.
This statement antagonized not only the Armenian government, but also the population of Armenia which the United States has been trying to win over in recent years. More importantly, this provocative U.S. statement irritated the large Armenian-American community.
The Armenian squad’s involvement in Syria was based on several factors:
1) Syria’s Arabs had played a critical role by providing a life-saving refuge to the remnants of the Armenian Genocide, including this writer’s grandparents. It is only fitting that the Armenian government and all Armenians reciprocate to Syria’s goodwill by coming to the rescue of the destitute local Armenians and Syrians in general.
2) The Armenian government has sent the humanitarian squad based on an inter-state agreement signed by Armenia and Syria in 2001. Therefore, this action is not only of a humanitarian nature, but also complies with requirements of international law.
3) The United States, on the other hand, has dispatched its Air Force and soldiers to Syria without the approval of the Syrian government, thus violating all relevant international laws. This illegal action is not committed by Armenia, but by the United States.
4) The Trump Administration and particularly hawkish National Security Advisor John Bolton have been striving to distance Armenia from Russia and draw it closer to the American sphere of influence. Regrettably, criticizing the Armenian government’s humanitarian aid to its compatriots in Syria does not endear the United States to Armenians. Just the opposite, it antagonizes Armenians worldwide. The US position simply reflects a poor knowledge of the realities in the Middle East by Trump officials. It makes no sense to try to compel Armenia to
desist from sending a humanitarian squad to Syria, knowing full well that such pressure will be rejected, making the American government look weak and ineffective. U.S. officials should have the wisdom to
know when to exert their influence and when not to. In this particular case, pressuring Armenia was counter-productive; it only served to strengthen the influence of Russia. Fortunately, such a minor issue will not undermine the friendly relationship between the United States
and Armenia. Armenians understand that the U.S. displeasure is more directed towards Russia and Iran than to Armenia itself. The U.S. government is well aware that Armenian troops have participated in international peacekeeping missions, such as Afghanistan, Iraq, Kosovo
and Lebanon.
5) The U.S. government has lost its moral authority to lecture Armenians on any subject given the fact that successive U.S. Presidents in recent decades have refused to utter the term Armenian Genocide under pressure from the despotic Turkish regime.
The Armenian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Anna Naghdalyan reacted to the State Department’s statement by declaring that “throughout the Syrian conflict the plight of civilians, minorities, including the sizable Syrian-Armenian community has consistently been a priority
concern for the Armenian people worldwide. The Armenian public opinion strongly reflects deep compassion and concern for the sufferings of civilians and the devastation of the country. We speak about a country
which has had an indispensable contribution for the survival of the Armenian nation in the wake of the Armenian Genocide.”
Naghdalyan also stated that the deployment of the humanitarian mission to Syria is intended to support the Armenian community in Aleppo. “It is a purely relief mission guided by International Humanitarian Law and [Armenia] coordinates its work with the relief agencies and
international partners present on the ground.”
Going a step further, on February 12, Armenia’s Defense Minister Davit Tonoyan announced that the humanitarian mission did not exclude the possibility of deploying combat troops in Syria in the future.
However, the Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan quickly rejected that possibility, stating that “we have no such plans.”
Americans, Russians, and everyone else should understand that the Armenian government will pursue its national interests regardless of the wishes of other nations. No amount of pressure will deter Armenians from their own objectives.
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Some examples:
A Brief History of Khash, Armenia’s Love-It-or-Hate-It Hangover Cure (Recipe)
'Armenian Pizza' Is the Comfort Food You Didn’t Know You Were Missing (Recipe)
It’s Still Christmas in Armenia
12 Unique Ways to Experience Armenia Off the Beaten Path
In One of the World's Oldest Winemaking Regions, a New Generation Revives an Ancient Tradition
One Photographer's Personal Endeavor to Track Down Survivors of the Armenian Genocide, 100 Years Later
From Colonel Sanders to Grace Kelly: Iconic American Portraits by Yousuf Karsh
How Zildjian Cymbals Made It From the Ottoman Empire to Now
Mapping Armenia’s Edible Landscape, One Wild Bilberry Bush at a Time
Illuminating the Shadowy Art of Armenian Puppet Theater
How a Record-Breaking Aerial Tramway Helped Save a Centuries-Old Armenian Monastery
The Point of Armenia's Splashy Holiday Is Getting Wet
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