For the residents of Arpi, a village in Armenia’s Vayots Dzor Province, the last two months of summer passed in an unusual regime. The villagers had to establish a night guard shift to protect the residents from the possible bears’ invasion of the village. The wild animals would particularly target the parts of the village which remained dark in night time. The lighted and crowded main street did not attract the bears. Solving the problem of the secondary streets lighting is now a priority in Arpi.
The main street of the village, an approximately 2 km long section, was illuminated last year with the support of VivaCell-MTS and the Foundation for the Preservation of Wildlife and Cultural Assets (FPWC). The partners have installed 51 LED lamps here. The second phase of the project has kicked off. Another 60 lamps will be needed to light the four other streets of the village. As a result, 2250 m will be illuminated. The safety and community budget saving problems of the biodiversity-rich settlement will be solved, VivaCell-MTS said in a press release.
“The program implemented in remote villages has always been seen from the perspectives of energy saving, economic efficiency, creation of civilized conditions and environmental issues. The problem of safety is taken into consideration, too, and it is not by occasion. Borderland villages face the issue of protecting themselves from the enemy, while other villages have an issue with animal invasions. To provide all that, it is said at least 80% of a village has to have lighting. And that implies a bigger project. To reach as many people’s needs as possible we oftentimes opt for stage by stage solution: we illuminate the main streets first, and then move on to secondary ones. And it is important to see that the program serves its purpose,” VivaCell-MTS General Manager Ralph Yirikian said.
The opportunity of developing infrastructures with modern technologies and the work performed by technical staff have inspired the residents. The efficiency of the LED lamps lighting system has already been tangible in the village. The head of the village states: the cost is low and the lighting is satisfying.
“This summer, our village was heavily covered by the news. The reason was the bears causing major damage to the villagers’ properties. I think things will change after the implementation of the second phase of the street lighting program. These lamps are energy-saving and powerful. Their technical capacities ensure good lighting and significantly reduce the energy consumption. The result is obvious as compared to regular lamps,” said the head of the village administration, Gagik Hovsepyan.
The partner organizations continue to focus on infrastructure development project. The problems are being identified; solutions are planned and implemented in different settlements of Armenia.
Azerbaijan deliberately turns upside down the root causes of the Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) conflict and the consequences of its own aggression, a member of Armenia’s Permanent Representation to the United Nations, Davit Knyazyan said at the 74th session of the UN General Assembly in New York.
“As much as the restoration of the Soviet Union is impossible, the same is true for the restoration of the ‘territorial integrity’ of Soviet Azerbaijan. We regret that the Azerbaijani party continued its practice of selective references and distortion of the Unites Nations Security Council resolutions,” the diplomat said.
“The resolutions were adopted during the military phase of the conflict and did not lead to immediate cease of hostilities due to the position of Azerbaijan, which made continuous attempts to impose a forceful solution of the conflict.”
The Armenian diplomat’s remarks came in response to Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov’s UN speech that “the Armenian aggression against Azerbaijan” has led to the loss of the country’s territory and one million refugees, citing the UN resolutions that “criticized Armenia.”
“Today, after 25 years of ceasefire, the primary objective of the resolutions – a complete ceasefire – is yet to be achieved. Azerbaijan refers to single element of the resolution by downplaying all others, such as lift of the blockade or neglecting parties to the conflict referred in the resolutions.
“All the resolutions have clearly recognized Nagorno-Karabakh as party to the conflict. If Azerbaijan is willing to implement the resolutions, it should first and foremost reach authorities of Nagorno-Karabakh in achieving progress in the conflict resolution. The main obstacle towards the conflict resolution is not the position of Armenia or Nagorno-Karabakh, but Azerbaijani policy and actions, which impede the progress in peaceful resolution,” the Armenian diplomat stressed.
Armenia saw a strong growth in brandy production in the first seven months of this year, according to the data released by the Statistical Committee.
The country produced 21,300,000 liters of brandy in January-July 2019, up 46.3% from the same months of 2018, when the output stood at 14,554,900 liters.
30,751,900 liters of brandy were produced in Armenia in 2018, securing a rise of 2.5% from the previous year. Brandy production in Armenia grew by 39.4% to 30,010,600 liters in 2017 and by 27% to 21,529,200 liters in 2016. However, in 2015 brandy production dropped by 9.4% to 16,900,000 liters.
On the evening of October 6, Yerevan’s iconic Republic Square will set the scene for WCIT 2019’s opening ceremony. Spectators will be treated to an unprecedented concert blending human and computer talent like never before, WCIT’s Public Relations Team reported.
The orchestra was created to perform for the first time at the WCIT 2019 opening ceremony. Grammy award winning DJ Armin Van Buuren will perform. The orchestra musicians are already arriving in Armenia (video). The main rehearsal for the performance will be on October 5.
The WCIT Orchestra, composed of musicians from 15 countries, which have hosted the forum in the past 40 years will perform on stage the music composed by AI in real time. The orchestra will have 100 musicians, including 30 from Armenia. The participating host nations include Canada, the Netherlands, Malaysia, the United States, Greece, Taipei, Spain, Japan, France, Denmark, Mexico, Brazil, Australia and India.
The concert will be performed under the baton of Maestro Sergey Smbatyan, the Artistic Director, and Principal Conductor of the Armenian State Symphony Orchestra. The Orchestra will be accompanied by an AI software whose programmed to incorporate the musical DNA of all 15 countries, including uniquely Armenian compositions. Renowned Armenian composer Aram Khachaturyan’s most acclaimed composition, The Sabre Dance, will be brought into the digital age, with awe-inspiring 3D mapping projected onto Republic Square.
“Initially, we have intended to make the IT World Congress in Yerevan an unforgettable and remarkable event: this is one of the surprises we have prepared for the international community to show the Armenian innovative thought. As it is known, the music will be composed by artificial intelligence, which we call artificial talent. We prove that the center of the world is where there is talent and innovation, in this particular case in Yerevan’s heart, in the Republic Square,” said the president of the Union of Advanced Technology Enterprises (UATE), Alexander Yesayan.
WCIT 2019 will be held in Yerevan on October 6-9, 2019. The Congress is hosted by Armenia with the support and under the high patronage of the Government of the Republic of Armenia. The World Congress on Information Technology (WCIT) was established by the World Information Technology and Services Alliance (WITSA). Its main organizing body is the Union of Advanced Technology Enterprises (UATE).