Month: June 2005

AN INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS “CONSTRUCTION -2005” TO BE HELD IN TSAGHKADSOR (ARMENIA) ON JUNE 17 -20
YEREVAN, June 14. /ARKA/. An International Congress “Construction
-2005” will be held in Tsaghkadsor (Armenia) on June 17 -20. According
to “Master” Center for International Integration, presentations of
construction complexes of Armenia, Russia, as well as round-table
discussions and section sessions will be held in the framework of
the congress. The program of the congress provides for trips to the
construction objects.
Congress “Construction 2005” will take place with the official support
of RA Ministry of Urban Planning of Armenia, Yerevan Municipality,
Union of Entrepreneurs (Employers) and Industrialists of Armenia,
Association of producers and sellers of Armenian stones. The organizer
of the international congress “Construction -2005” is “Mars” Center
for International Integration. A.H. –0–

Virage Logic Chief Scientist Named 2005 IEEE Industrial Pioneer Award Recipient
PR Newswire (press release)
June 14 2005
Dr. Yervant Zorian Recognized for Significant Contributions to Advanced
Embedded Test and Repair Technologies for SoC Design
Design Automation Conference, ANAHEIM, Calif., June 14
/PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Citing his enormous contributions
to design-for-test and embedded repair technology for complex
System-on-Chip (SoC) design, Dr.
Yervant Zorian, vice president and chief scientist at Virage Logic
Corporation (Nasdaq: VIRL) was today named the 2005 IEEE Circuits
and Systems (CAS) Industrial Pioneer award recipient. Dr. Zorian’s
technical accomplishments include pioneering work in Built-In Self-Test
(BIST) and embedded repair technologies and products that have
dramatically boosted the quality, reliability and manufacturability
of digital systems.
In 2000, Dr. Zorian brought his technology vision and expertise in BIST
solutions to Virage Logic where he helped to pioneer a new class of
Intellectual Property (IP) called Silicon Aware IP(TM). Silicon Aware
IP is Physical IP, such as memories, logic and I/Os, designed with
embedded Infrastructure IP for test, diagnostics, repair, and yield
enhancements. The result is IP that is high yielding and enables rapid
time-to-volume at advanced process nodes. In addition, Silicon Aware
IP results in much higher test quality and reliability. Today, Virage
Logic believes it is the only commercial IP provider to offer Silicon
Aware IP, an example of which is its Self-Test and Repair (STAR)
Memory System(TM). The company’s Silicon Aware IP initiative calls
for its entire product portfolio to become Silicon Aware IP over time.
“The self-test and repair capabilities that Dr. Zorian developed for
SoCs have become the de facto standard in 90-nanometer technology
for much of the electronics designed around the world,” said Adam
Kablanian, president and CEO of Virage Logic. “His pioneering vision
for providing an effective test technology solution integrated with IP
has enabled Virage Logic to deliver a proven path for design success
at the advanced process geometries of 130nm and below. We are proud
to have such a technology visionary on our team and congratulate him
on his selection by the IEEE as their 2005 Industrial Pioneer.”
Each year, the IEEE CAS Society honors outstanding scientists and
engineers who have successfully translated their research into
commercial products or applications. With the Silicon Aware STAR
Memory System, Dr.
Zorian turned the concepts of embedded repair to real life systems
that are yieldable and reliable, and succeeded in penetrating the
industry and changing its standard practices.
“It is a great honor to be selected by the IEEE CAS Society for
this award,” said Dr. Zorian, vice president and chief scientist of
Virage Logic.
“I’ve worked with many talented people at Virage Logic to develop
the self- test and repair solutions we have today and this award is
as much a reflection of their hard work as it is mine. Together, we
have helped SoC designers accelerate silicon success by improving
reliability and manufacturability to speed time-to-volume and
significantly increase yield.”
About Dr. Zorian
Dr. Zorian joined Virage Logic in 2000 as Chief Scientist. Prior to
joining Virage Logic, he served as Chief Technology Advisor at
LogicVision and as a Distinguished Member of Technical Staff at Bell
Labs, AT&T. His responsibilities included developing and disseminating
embedded test and repair solutions for IP cores, chips, boards and
systems. Dr. Zorian also serves on the Board of Directors of several
public and privately owned companies.
Dr. Zorian serves as the IEEE Computer Society Vice President for
Conferences and Tutorials as well as the Editor-in-Chief Emeritus of
the IEEE Design & Test of Computers. He also participates in editorial
advisory boards of IEEE Spectrum and JETTA. He has chaired numerous
conferences, symposiums, workshops, and the IEEE Test Technology
Technical Council of IEEE Computer Society. He founded and chairs the
IEEE 1500 Standard Working Group, and the IEEE Workshops on Testing
Embedded Core-based Systems-on-Chips (TECS), and Infrastructure
IP Workshop.
Dr. Zorian has authored over 300 papers and four books, received
several best paper awards, and holds twelve U.S. patents. He is
a Golden Core Member of IEEE Computer Society, Honorary Doctor of
the National Academy of Sciences of Armenia, and a Fellow of IEEE.
Dr. Zorian received his master’s degree in Computer Engineering from
the University of Southern California, a doctorate in Electrical
Engineering from McGill University and an executive master’s degree
in Business Administration from Wharton School of Business, University
of Pennsylvania.
About the IEEE Circuits and Systems Society
The Circuits and Systems (CAS) Society is a division of the IEEE that
is dedicated to the theory, analysis, design (computer aided design),
and practical implementation of circuits, and the application of
circuit theoretic techniques to systems and to signal processing. The
coverage of this field includes the spectrum of activities from, and
including, basic scientific theory to industrial applications. The
purposes of the Society are scientific, literary and educational
in character, directed toward the advancement of the theory
and practice of electrical, electronics and allied branches of
engineering or the related arts and science, in order to increase
the professional standing of the Members and Affiliates. Visit CAS
at .
About Virage Logic
Founded in 1996, Virage Logic Corporation rapidly established itself
as a technology and market leader in providing advanced embedded
memory intellectual property (IP) for the design of complex integrated
circuits.
Today the company is a global leader in semiconductor IP platforms
comprising embedded memories, standard cells, and I/Os and is
pioneering the development of a new class of IP called Silicon Aware
IP. Silicon Aware IP tightly integrates Physical IP (memory, logic
and I/Os) with the embedded test, diagnostic, and repair capabilities
of Infrastructure IP to help ensure manufacturability and optimized
yield at the advanced process nodes.
Virage
Logic’s highly differentiated product portfolio provides higher
performance, lower power, higher density and optimal yield to
foundries, integrated device manufacturers (IDMs) and fabless
customers who develop products for the consumer, communications
and networking, hand-held and portable, and computer and graphics
markets. The company’s comprehensive quality efforts are validated in
its FirstPass-Silicon Characterization Lab, which helps ensure high
quality, reliable IP across a wide range of foundries and process
technologies. Headquartered in Fremont, California, Virage Logic
has R&D, sales and support offices worldwide. For more information,
visit
SAFE HARBOR STATEMENT FOR VIRAGE LOGIC UNDER THE PRIVATE SECURITIES
LITIGATION REFORM ACT OF 1995: Statements made in this news release,
other than statements of historical fact, are forward-looking
statements, including, for example, statements relating to trends,
business outlook, products, and customer relationships.
Forward-looking statements are subject to a number of known and unknown
risks and uncertainties, which might cause actual results to differ
materially from those expressed or implied by such statements. These
risks and uncertainties include Virage Logic’s ability to forecast
its business, including its revenue, income and order flow outlook;
Virage Logic’s ability to execute on its strategy to become a provider
of semiconductor IP platforms; Virage Logic’s ability to continue to
develop new products and maintain and develop new relationships with
third-party foundries and integrated device manufacturers; adoption of
Virage Logic’s technologies by semiconductor companies and increases or
fluctuations in the demand for their products; the company’s ability
to overcome the challenges associated with establishing licensing
relationships with semiconductor companies; the company’s ability to
obtain royalty revenues from customers in addition to license fees,
to receive accurate information necessary for calculating royalty
revenues and to collect royalty revenues from customers; business and
economic conditions generally and in the semiconductor industry in
particular; competition in the market for semiconductor IP platforms;
and other risks including those described in the company’s Annual
Report on Form 10-K for the period ended September 30, 2004, and in
Virage Logic’s other periodic reports filed with the SEC, all of which
are available from Virage Logic’s website ()
or from the SEC’s website (), and in news releases
and other communications.
Virage Logic disclaims any intention or duty to update any
forward-looking statements made in this news release.
NOTE: All trademarks and copyrights are property of their respective
owners and are protected therein.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Turkish Minister Ali Babacan To Attend J.P.C. Meeting
Journal of Turkish Weekly, Turkey
June 14 2005
STRASBOURG (AA) – Turkish State Minister Ali Babacan will attend and
deliver a speech at a meeting of Joint Parliamentary Commission (JPC)
scheduled to be held in Istanbul between June 13th and 14th.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan had assigned Babacan as
chief negotiator for Turkey’s entry talks with EU.
European wing members of the JPC met in Strasbourg today (Thursday)
and reviewed the preliminary studies for the Istanbul meeting.
EU-Turkey Joint Parliamentary Commission Co-chairman Joost Lagendijk,
taking the floor at the opening of the meeting, women’s rights in
Turkey, harmonization problem of Turkish citizens in Europe, recent
situation in Turkish-EU relations,and implementation of Customs Union
are among to topics to be discussed at Istanbul meeting.
At a meeting held in European Parliament (EP) today, Turkey’s Permanent
Representative to the EU Oguz Demiralp gave information to JPC members
about the preparations and replied to the questions.
European parliamentarians asked question about ban on the activities
of the Teacher’s Trade Union (Egitim-Sen), postponement of the
Armenian conference planned to be held in Bogazici University, and
the results of the referendums held in France and the Netherlands
for the EU Constitution.
Demiralp said ban on the activities of Egitim-Sen was the decision
of independent jurisdiction, stating that the government continued
its determination to improve cultural rights in the reform process.
Demiralp said the decision taken for the postponement of the
conference was not a decision of cancellation, and noted that the
Turkish government always supported clear discussion of what has
happened in the history.
Stating that results of the referendums were not welcomed in Turkey,
Demiralp said, “the European Commission and the European Council gave
open assurances to Turkey that the results would not negatively affect
the enlargement process.”
Asked about the signing of the agreement envisaging extension of the
Customs Union in a way to cover new countries, Demiralp said Turkey
would sign this agreement after the European Commission and Council
complete their domestic processes.

ARMENIAN AND THAI TRADE REPRESENTATIVES OFFICES TO OPEN IN THE TWO COUNTRIES
YEREVAN, June 14. /ARKA/. The representative offices of Armenia and
Thailand will open in the two countries, stated Armenian Premier
Andranik Margaryan in Bangkok at his meeting with Bhokin Bhalakula,
head of House of Representatives of Kingdom of Thailand, according to
the press service of RA Government. The exhibition of Armenian goods
will open in Thailand in September, followed by the Thai exhibition in
Armenia. Also, the visit of Armenian delegation to Thailand is planned
in autumn. The parties noted agreements on refraining from double
taxation and on cooperation in the area of agriculture had already been
signed between the two countries. Margaryan expressed hope that the
agreements on protection of investments and visa regulations would
soon be signed. “Armenia attaches big importance to the deepening
of relations with Thailand and takes this country as a gateway to
South-Eastern Asia”, said Armenian Premier. The parties also emphasized
the role of the small but rather active Armenian community in Thailand.
Note, Andranik Margaryan is on a working visit to Thailand. L.V.-0–

IRAN, ARMENIA LOOK TO BOLSTER BILATERAL TIES
Asia Pulse; Jun 14, 2005
TABRIZ, East Azarbaijan prov, June 14 Asia Pulse – Visiting Armenian
Energy Minister Armen Movsisyan met with the Governor General of
the Iran’s northwestern province of East Azarbaijan, Mohammad-Ali
Sobhanollahi on Monday, discussing ways to bolster Tabriz-Yerevan
relations.
During the meeting, Sobhanollahi pointed to the province’s economic,
scientific, industrial and trade potentials, calling for consolidation
of cooperation between the two cities.
He called on Armenian officials to accelerate construction of a
transit road between the two regions and settle the transit problems.
Referring to Iran’s abundant energy resources, he said it was
inevitable for neighboring states to cooperate with Iran in this
regard.
He voiced his province’s readiness to boost all-out cooperation with
Yerevan within the framework of the two countries’ agreement.
Movsisyan, for his part, expressed his country’s interest in
cooperating with the Iranian city, underlining the need to construct
Iran-Armenia pipeline to transport oil from Iran to Armenia.

Today, Azerbaijan
June 14 2005
Condoleezza Rice discussed Upper Garabagh conflict with Vardan
Oskanyan
14 June 2005 [09:55] – Today.Az
The foreign affairs minister of Armenia being on a visit in USA Vardan
Oskanyan met with the state minister Condoleezza Rice.
A comprehensive exchange of views related to the USA-Armenia relations
was held in the meeting. C. Rice highly appreciated Armenia’s
participation in the struggle against terror program realized in the
direction of Iraq’s restoration.
V.Oskanyan acquainted the USA state minister with the last situation in
regulating the Nagorno Karabakh conflict. Besides, the sides held the
detailed exchange of views on the situation in the Southern Caucasus
and the Turkey-Armenia relations.
/APA/
URL:

Celebration of South Caucasian music in Tbilisi
By Christina Tashkevich
The Messenger, Georgia
June 14 2005
Last weekend musicians from the South Caucasus gathered in Tbilisi to
participate in an event organized by the British Council, the aim of
which was to build closer ties by sharing their experience and talent
and at the same time gaining contacts for the future.
Explaining the importance of the event the organizers of the conference
said there was previously “little history of local co-operation,”
despite the strong musical traditions and a great wealth of gifted
artists in the region.
At the conference participants discussed a variety of issues such as
independence from the government and surviving in a global market as
an artist, producer, or label company.
“If it’s a business, we need to earn money,” the Armenian delegate
Nika Babayan said at the conference session.
However, for many what is most important is the love of art and
entertainment; money comes second. Laurence Ball, CEO of Domino
Records, one of Britain’s leading independent labels and home to the
Scottish sensation Franz Ferdinand, says he established his independent
label because of his “love of music” and not because he saw it as a
business opportunity.
Domino Records, a company with a 10-year history has already sold
about 150 albums and 150 singles and has offices in the United States.
Other key conference speakers included Gavin Robertson, an expert in
rights issues with a special interest in the digital domain, Lucy Bird,
marketing manager of The Sage in Gateshead, which is Britain’s newest
large-scale music venue; and Nicola Curic from Serbia’s EXIT festival,
which has become a major European music event since its introduction
in 2000..
This year’s EXIT festival will feature Fatboy Slim and The White
Stripes. According to Curic, the festival has a certain social message,
every year using music to make people think about some of the most
acute problems in the country.
The first EXIT festival featured a campaign motivating people to
go and vote in elections against Slobodan Milosevic’s regime. Last
year’s message was to highlight the fight against human trafficking
and exploitation. “EXIT has contributed to changing the negative
image of Serbia and Montenegro,” Curic said at the conference.
Several local bands and musicians attended the conference, including
“Georgian Lemon Juice” and “Nikakoi,” who performed at the Noa Noa
club on Saturday.

The Messenger, Georgia
June 14 2005
BTC pipeline under threat?
The Georgian media is speculating that the pipeline may be targeted
by Armenian and Kurdish terrorist groups
By M. Alkhazashvili
Security issues surrounding the BTC pipeline, which began operating
in May, have come increasingly to the fore in recent weeks, with
speculation in the Georgian media that the pipeline could be the
target of a terrorist attack.
The reports follows threats from different Kurdish and Armenian
organizations that they intend to carry out a terrorist attack on the
pipeline. The Georgian media speculates that such groups could be
supported by Russia, the country that would benefit most should the
BTC project be derailed, although there is no evidence to back up
this theory.
>>From the very beginning, the possibility of terrorist attacks was
seen as one reason for not going ahead with the pipeline. As early as
August 1993, Asala (the Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of
Armenia) warned the pipeline must not pass through “Armenian occupied
territories.” The Kurdistan National Congress is another organization
that threatened the BTC project at the time.
After construction got underway, however, the situation changed
considerably. Asala stopped committing terrorist acts and the
Kurdistan National Congress agreed to a ceasefire. But on June 6th
Rezonansi reported that the Kurdish National Congress had again
issued a statement threatening the BTC project.
A large section of the pipeline runs through Turkish Kurdistan, where
the situation has always been tense. Last summer there were several
terrorist acts in Turkey which Kurdish terrorist organizations took
responsibility for and they have threatened to further increase their
activities, reports Alia.
Rezonansi reports that relations between Kurds and the Turkish
government have recently become strained and that Kurdish
organization are now threatening both the Turkish tourist industry
and the BTC pipeline.
As for any possible Armenian threat, however, Van Baiburt, a Georgian
MP of Armenian origin, says that the Armenian threat is not serious
and that Asala has genuinely given up terrorist activities.

An important new look at race
By Mona Charen – 06/14/05
Helena Independent Record, MT
June 14 2005
Let’s say, just for the sake of argument, that there are some
intelligent people out there who have never read anything by Thomas
Sowell.
(I know, I know, the chances are remote, but work with me here.)
They’ve never enjoyed his fascinating excursion into group traits in
“Ethnic America,” nor his penetrating analysis of what has gone wrong
with the schools in “Inside American Education,” nor his brilliant
dissection of the inevitable pitfalls of regulation in “Knowledge and
Decisions.” There is hope. His new volume, “Black Rednecks and White
Liberals,” offers a taste of some of his earlier work as well as a
cornucopia of new insights. Indeed, the new book is so clarifying
and so wise that even experienced Sowell readers will find much that
is new.
The title refers to the first essay, which argues that many of the
traits commonly considered “authentically black” are actually the
inheritance of the white redneck culture amid which many blacks lived
for centuries. These include hair-trigger touchiness on the part
of men, anti-intellectualism, pride, sexual license, backwardness
and laziness.
Speech patterns that persist among ghetto blacks today ~W “ax” for ask,
“bile” for boil, “do'” for door, and “dis” for this ~W are traceable to
the regions of Great Britain from which white Southerners came. Black
and white children from the South lagged academically behind their
peers in the rest of the nation throughout the 20th century. This
is well-known. What is less well-known is that “black soldiers from
some Northern states scored higher on mental tests than whites from
some Southern states during the First World War.”
Further, schools established for blacks by 19th-century New
Englanders in the South imported a very different set of values
and expectations, and black youngsters, like W.E.B. Du Bois, rose
to the challenge. “In 1871, the Georgia legislature created a board
of visitors to attend public examinations at Atlanta University. The
chairman . . . reportedly said that he expected the examinations to
confirm the Negro’s inferiority. But the recitations of former slaves
in Latin, Greek, and geometry forced from him the confession that
~Qwe were impressed with the fallacy of the popular idea . . . that
the members of the African race are not capable of a high grade of
intellectual culture.’ ”
In a chapter entitled “Are Jews Generic?” Sowell explores the
contribution and fate of “middleman minorities” around the globe.
>>From the Ibos in Nigeria, to the Armenians in Turkey, to the ethnic
Chinese in Southeast Asia, to the Lebanese in Africa, to the (Indian)
Gujaratis in the South Pacific, to the Jews in Europe, middleman
minorities have served to lubricate the economies of the nations
they have lived among. Additionally, these groups have resembled one
another in many respects: a willingness to work long hours, maintenance
of strong families and an emphasis on education. They have suffered
similar fates as well, as they have repeatedly been the victims of
furious violence from their neighbors. The irony, Sowell writes, is
that the middlemen are most deeply resented and hated where they are
the most indispensable. Such was the hatred for Indians and Pakistanis
who served as middlemen in Uganda that the government forcibly exiled
them all (50,000) in the 1970s. Economic devastation followed. The
story was similar with Jews in Eastern Poland in the 17th century.
Sowell’s majestic intelligence and humane sympathy shine through on
every page. The chapter on “Black Education: Achievements, Myths
and Tragedies” is especially powerful. Here is an elegy to Dunbar
High School, a public school in Washington, D.C. Founded in 1870,
Dunbar produced academic excellence among its black students at a
rate that today seems out of reach.
“During the period from 1918 to 1923, graduates of this school went
on to earn 25 degrees from Ivy League colleges, Amherst, Williams,
and Wellesley.
. . At one time, the reputation of Dunbar graduates was such that.
they did not have to take entrance examinations to be admitted to
Dartmouth, Harvard, and some other selective colleges.” Dunbar was
undermined by politics and now resembles other failing inner city
schools.
“Black Rednecks and White Liberals” ranges widely ~W from a learned
essay on slavery worldwide to an examination of the German national
character. This book affirms Thomas Sowell’s status as one of America’s
most eminent intellectuals.
Mona Charen is a nationally distributed columnist.

Russian, Azeri presidents to discuss Caspian and Azeri oil export issues
RIA Novosti, Russia
June 14 2005
MOSCOW, June 14 (RIA Novosti) – The Tuesday summit of the Russian
and Azeri presidents, Vladimir Putin and Ilkham Aliyev, is to focus
on the whole range of the bilateral relations, a Kremlin source told
RIA Novosti.
Moscow believes the mainstay of the bilateral relations is the
trade and economic cooperation resting upon the interstate treaty on
long-term economic cooperation until 2010, singed on January 25, 2002.
Last year, bilateral trade turnover grew by 50% to $757 million. Over
the first five months of this year, the growth has equaled 40%. The
showings are another step towards implementing the interstate
agreement on doubling the goods turnover to drive it to $1 billion,
the source said.
According to the Kremlin source, the presidents of Russian
and Azerbaijan during their Tuesday meeting in St. Petersburg
are to look into stepping up the fuel and energy cooperation,
particularly, boosting the Azeri oil transit via the Northern Route,
the Baku-Novorossiisk oil pipeline.
“Cooperation on the Caspian issues with emphasis placed on drafting
a Caspian legal status convention” is to be touched upon as well,
RIA Novosti’s source in the Kremlin said.
The situation in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) is to
be analyzed, with the two presidents to exchange their views on the
Nagorno-Karabakh settlement (Nagorno-Karabakh is an area in Azerbaijan
with the ethnic Armenian population).
Aliyev is to attend the 9th St. Petersburg International Economic
Forum. The Azeri republic presentation timed to coincide with the
Year of Azerbaijan in Russia is to be held during the forum
This is going to be the third visit of Azerbaijan’s president to Russia
this year. Aliyev paid a working visit to Moscow on February 15-16
and attended the celebration of the 60th V-E Day anniversary on May 9.