Author: Andres-Papazian

6TH INTERNATIONAL MICROELECTRONICS OLYMPIAD OF ARMENIA IS ANNOUNCED

Panorama
March 24 2011
Armenia

Armenia’s Leading Mobile Operator VivaCell-MTS, a subsidiary of “Mobile
TeleSystems” OJSC, and Synopsys, Inc., a world leader in software and
IP for semiconductor design, verification and manufacturing announced
today that the Sixth Annual International Microelectronics Olympiad of
Armenia will be held in September – October, 2011. This was announced
at a joint press conference, presided by VivaCell-MTS General Manager
Ralph Yirikian and Rich Goldman, president of the organizing committee
of the Olympiad, Vice President of Corporate Marketing and Strategic
Alliances at Synopsys, and the Chief Executive Officer of Synopsys
Armenia CJSC.

The Olympiad aims at stimulating further development of
microelectronics in Armenia and in the participant countries,
discovering young, talented resources, increasing interest towards
microelectronics among young specialists, understanding the level of
knowledge in the field of microelectronics in order to make necessary
adjustments to the educational programs and creating a community of
young specialists involved in microelectronics. Eligible participants
are students of colleges and higher educational institutions and
specialists from companies engaged in microelectronics under age 30.

“In its sixth year, the International Microelectronics Olympiad
has achieved impressive momentum. Two years ago, the Olympiad
took its first tentative steps toward internationalization, with
the participation of students from Russia and Ukraine. Last year,
students from five different countries participated. This year,
we expect to nearly double that number with students from three
different continents participating, traveling to Armenia from as
far away as California. Thanks to the generous sponsorship of our
excellent partner, VivaCell-MTS the opportunity to travel to Yerevan
to participate in the Olympiads is proving to be a very attractive
proposition around the world, and is creating an event in this field
that is unprecedented throughout the world. The Olympiad is providing
an impetus to showcase Armenia’s developing role as a regional center
for Microelectronics, and is serving as a strong basis for developing
beneficial relationships for Armenia around the world. I am certain
that the relationships built through the Olympiads will reward the
organizers’ efforts for Armenia in unprecedented and unforeseen ways.

We look forward to hosting and competing with the brightest young
electrical engineers from counties around the world, during Synopsys
Week 2011 in October in Yerevan” – said Rich Goldman, president of
the organizing committee of the Olympiad, chief executive officer of
Synopsys Armenia CSJC, and vice president of Corporate Marketing and
Strategic Alliances at Synopsys.

“Education defines the future of the country. This is especially the
case, when education is essential in boosting country’s competitive
advantage. Healthy competition between IT students is a necessary
precondition to creativity: this is a sphere where the determining
factor is the brilliance of thought and not the physical strength.

However, it’s not a sufficient condition yet. Such initiatives need
to be encouraged as strongly as possible. As Armenia’s Leading Mobile
Operator and corporate citizen, for VivaCell-MTS any initiative that
leads young people to great discoveries by encouraging creativity
is important. This is where we see our role as the supporter. Only
countries valuing the intellectual development of young generation
have prospects for further development. We wish the participants
and especially our compatriots every success in the contest. We are
confident they will do their best to use this opportunity to win”-
said VivaCell-MTS General Manager Ralph Yirikian.

This year the Olympiad will host representatives from Armenia, India,
Jordan, Russia, Serbia, Ukraine, USA and others.

The 6th International Microelectronics Olympiad of Armenia is conducted
in two stages: the first stage, that entails a test, will be held in
all participant countries simultaneously, in September, 2011.

The final stage will be held among the top contestants of all
participant countries, in Armenia, in October, during Synopsys week
in Armenia 2011. It will involve a challenging contest and complex
engineering tasks requiring advanced solutions.

The Olympiad topics are Digital IC Design and Testing, analog and Mixed
Signal IC Design and Testing, semiconductor Devices and Technology,
mathematical and Algorithmic Issues of EDA.

1st Category prize is a portable computer, 2nd category is AMD 300
thousand (approximately USD 800) and the 3rd category is AMD 150
thousand (approximately USD 400). There are also special prizes for the
Best Engineering Solution, Most creative solution, Best out-of-the-box
solution and Best Result among participants from each country. All
participants of the Olympiad receive Participation Certificates.

The first Armenian Microelectronics Olympiad was held on September
22-26, 2006. Eighty-two participants took part in the first stage,
and 32 passed to the second stage. The second annual Armenian
Microelectronics Olympiad was held on September 18-26, 2007. One
hundred eighteen participants took part in the first stage,
and 48 passed to the second stage. The third annual Armenian
Microelectronics Olympiad was held on September 16-25, 2008. One
105 participants took part in the first stage, 15 of whom were from
Gyumri. 32 participants went on to the second stage. The Fourth
Annual Armenian Microelectronics Olympiad was held on September 4-30,
2009. 118 participants took part in the first stage, with 10 from
Russia, 27 from Ukraine, and 11 from Gyumri. Forty-seven moved on
to the second stage. The Fifth Annual International Microelectronics
Olympiad of Armenia was held on October 4 – 29, 2010. Of more than 200
competitors in the Olympiad 1st stage, 132 were students from Armenian
universities. A number of participating students were from universities
outside Armenia: Moscow Institute of Electronics Technology (MIET);
Saint-Petersburg Electrotechnical University (LETI); Saint-Petersburg
State University of Information Technology, Mechanics and Optics
(ITMO), Kharkov National University of Radio Electronics (KNURE);
Jordan University of Science and Technology (JUST), Princess Sumaya
University for Technology (PSUT), University of Niš and University
of Serbia. 50 qualified participants moved on to the second stage.

From: A. Papazian

MIKAYEL ARZOUMANYAN APPOINTED COMMANDER OF MILITARY UNIT IN NAGORNO-KARABAKH

news.am
March 24 2011
Armenia

NKR President Bako Sahakyan signed a decree releasing colonel Tiran
Khachatryan from the post of the commander of the Artsakh Republic
N military unit.

According to another presidential decree, colonel Mikayel Arzoumanyan
was appointed commander of the Artsakh Republic N military unit
according to a five year term contract, NKR presidential press service
informed Armenian News-NEWS.am.

From: A. Papazian

LEVON ARONYAN WINS “RAPID” CHESS

Panorama
March 24 2011
Armenia

In the tenth round of “Amber” tournament Armenian GM Levon Aronyan
defeated Vesselin Topalov in the “blindfold” chess. In the rapid
chess Armenian GM shared points with the Bulgarian chess player.

Levon Aronyan has already been declared the champion of “blindfold”
chess. Aronyan has no chances to win in the rapid chess, since he
lacks 2 points to equak Magnus Carlsen.

The most important still is the total ranking table, which is again
led by Aronyan. He has scored 14,5, is followed by Magnus Carlsen –
13,5 and Anand -11.

Today, in the final round Levon Aronyan will meet Sergey Karjakin.

“Blindfold” chess: 10th round Karjakin – Nakamura 1/2 Kramnik –
Ivanchuk 1/2 Topalov – Aronian 0-1 Anand – Gashimov 1/2 Gelfand –
Giri 1-0 Grischuk – Carlsen 1/2 Vesseling Topalov-Levon Aronyan 0:1

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Bb4 5. cxd5 exd5 6. Bg5 h6 7. Bh4
c5 8. e3 g5 9. Bg3 c4 10. Be2 Ne4 11. Rc1 Qa5 12. Ne5 Nc6 13. O-O Bxc3
14. bxc3 Nxc3 15. Rxc3 Qxc3 16. Bh5 O-O 17. Qf3 Nd8 18. Qf6 Qc2 19.

Ng4 Bxg4 20. Be5 Qh7 21. Bxg4 Ne6 22. f4 Qg7 23. Qe7 Rae8 24. Qd7 Qh7
25. fxg5 f5 26. Qxh7+ Kxh7 27. Bxf5+ Rxf5 28. Rxf5 c3 29. gxh6 b5 30.

Bd6 a5 31. Ba3 b4 32. Bc1 a4 33. Rf7+ Kxh6 34. Rb7 Nf4 35. exf4 Re1+
36. Kf2 Rxc1 37. Rxb4 Ra1 38. Rb6+ Kg7 39. Rc6 Rxa2+ 40. Ke3 Rxg2 41.

Rxc3 Rxh2 42. Rc6 a3 43. f5 Rh6 44. Rc1 Ra6 45. Kd3 a2 46. Ra1 Kf6 47.

Kc3 Kxf5 48. Kb2 Ke4 49. Re1+ Kxd4 50. Ka1 Kc3 51. Rc1+ Kd2 52. Rc2+
Kd3 53. Rc3+ Ke4 54. Rh3 d4 55. Rh4+ Kd3 56. Rh3+ Kc4 57. Rc3+ Kd5 58.

Rh3 Rb6 59. Kxa2 Kc4 60. Rh1 Kc3 0:1:

Rapid chess. 10th round Nakamura – Karjakin 1/2 Ivanchuk – Kramnik
1/2 Aronian – Topalov 1/2 Gashimov – Anand 0-1 Giri – Gelfand 1/2
Carlsen – Grischuk 1-0 Levon Aronyan-Vesseling Topalov 0,5:0,5

1. c4 e5 2. g3 Nc6 3. Bg2 g6 4. Nc3 Bg7 5. Rb1 a5 6. a3 f5 7. b4 axb4
8. axb4 e4 9. Nh3 Nge7 10. O-O O-O 11. Nd5 d6 12. d3 exd3 13. exd3
Nxd5 14. Bxd5+ Kh8 15. Ng5 Qf6 16. h4 h6 17. Re1 Nd4 18. Be3 c6 19.

Nf3 cxd5 20. Bxd4 Qf7 21. Ra1 Rxa1 22. Qxa1 dxc4 23. dxc4 Kg8 24. Bxg7
Qxg7 25. Qd1 Qf6 26. Qd5+ Kh8 27. Rd1 f4 28. Qxd6 Qxd6 29. Rxd6 fxg3
30. fxg3 Rxf3 31. Rd8+ Kg7 32. Rxc8 Rxg3+ 33. Kf2 Rg4 34. b5 b6 35.

Rc7+ Kf6 36. Rc6+ Ke5 37. Rxb6 1/2:1/2:

From: A. Papazian

ARMENIA TO PARTICIPATE IN FORUM ON INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY SERVICES “CONNECT” IN ROMANIA

news.am
March 24 2011
Armenia

On Jun 10-19, the UNDP Black Sea Trade and Investment Programme (BSTIP)
is organizing The First Black Sea Partnership Forum on Information and
Communication Technology Services “CONNECT” in co-operation with the
Association for Information Technology and Communication of Romania
in Bucharest.

The Forum is expected to attract participation of 100 private
companies active in the ICT sector from the 12 countries covered by
our BSTIP Programme (Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Georgia,
Greece, Moldova, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Turkey and Ukraine),
Union of Information Technology Enterprises (UITE) informed Armenian
News-NEWS.am.

From: A. Papazian

ARMENIAN DIASPORA MINISTER LEFT FOR WORKING VISIT TO UAE, SINGAPORE AND AUSTRALIA

news.am
March 24 2011
Armenia

Armenian Diaspora Minister Hranush Hakobyan has left for a working
visit to the UAE, Singapore and Australia, ministry’s press service
informed Armenian News-NEWS.am.

In the course of her visit to UAE Hranush Hakobyan visited Saint Grigor
the Illuminator Church in Sharjah and met with the representatives
of the Armenian community.

In Singapore and Australia she is expected to hold meetings with the
members of local Armenian community.

From: A. Papazian

ARMENIA CANNOT BECOME CUSTOMS UNION MEMBER

The Messenger
March 24 2011
Georgia

Armenia’s PM Tigran Sarkisian cannot join the Belarus-Kazakh-Russia
customs union unless Georgia joins as well. Therefore Armenia will
try to integrate with the European Union. Realistically Georgia will
not join to this union and therefore, as Armenia has no land border
to any of those countries, it will be technically impossible for
Armenia to join the union. Tigran Sarkisian mentioned that there is
no point in joining a customs union with a country with which you do
not share a land border. The Armenian PM expressed his confidence
that his country may become the member of a free trade relations
agreement with EU countries.

From: A. Papazian

SUPPORTERS OF HOVANNISIAN WRITE TO U.S. AMBASSADOR YOVANOVITCH

hetq
[ 2011/03/24 | 09:55 ]

Dear Madam Ambassador,

On behalf of many Armenian-Americans we are writing to you with an
urgent plea.

As you may know, Raffi K. Hovannisian, the leader of Heritage Party in
Republic of Armenia, in protest to a myriad of serious shortcomings
of democracy, existence of political prisoners, and perilous lack of
freedom in all of its forms, has been on a hunger-strike since March
15, 2011.

Since day one, supporters of Mr. Hovannisian have attempted to
erect a simple tent for him, so as to shield him from unusually
cold weather and rain. At every attempt, the authorities,
using uniformed and plain-clothed police, have obstructed the
placement of such tent. In one instance, as evidenced in this
video , uniformed and
plain-clothed officers tore apart a simple canopy which was to replace
an umbrella that Mr. Hovannisian was using.

Mr. Hovannisian has been denied the most basic of accommodations that
will enable him to continue his constitutional right to express his
discontent in a humane and decent manner. During nighttime, to keep
warm and dry, he is forced to cover himself with multiple blankets
and parts of a tarp. These inhumane conditions require urgent and
most serious attention.

As you may know, Mr. Hovannisian, is an American-born former Foreign
Minister of the Republic of Armenia. Born in Fresno, California,
to children of Genocide survivors, Mr. Hovannisian’s actions are
merely the reflection of American idealism: a belief in the notion
that all men are created equal; that freedom, fairness and justice
are privileges bestowed upon us not by benevolent rulers, but are
entitlements guaranteed by nature’s laws.

Raffi’s fast for freedom, now entering its ninth day, is his expression
of his hunger for these very ideals that have been instilled in him at
UCLA, Georgetown, and Tufts. Having spent over two decades in Armenia,
while actively engaged in politics, he has not veered off from western
values; of American ideals; of democracy, freedom, and justice. He may
well be the model of post-Soviet, freedom-oriented leader that citizens
of Armenia entrust the hard work of bringing change to their society.

Thus, on behalf of Armenian-Americans and supporters of “Hungry for
Change: Freedom and Justice in Armenia”, an online community awakened
by the calls of democracy trumpeted from the Middle East, and in the
name of human decency, we kindly request that the following demands
be urgently communicated to the Armenian authorities in Yerevan:
1. Permit the erection of appropriate tents in a prominent location
in Liberty Square, and permit for other necessary accommodations for
Raffi Hovannisian and his supporters; 2. Halt the harassment that
occurs under the guise of police searches of Raffi Hovannisian’s
belongings and surroundings.

We also note that many non-governmental organizations, prominent
civic leaders, journalists and tens of thousands of ordinary
citizens have sounded the distress call on this issue. On March 21st,
Armenia’s own Human Rights Ombudsman issued a statement (available,
at ) calling on authorities to
permit the setting of a tent for Raffi Hovannisian, assessing the
police actions as violation of Armenia’s human rights laws.

The case and need for your intervention is, in our opinion, clear,
urgent and most anticipated.

From: A. Papazian

ARARAT PRIMATE KEEPS GUN IN FIRE-PROOF BOX

hetq
[ 2011/03/24 | 13:15 ]

Archbishop Navasard got revolver for “service to the nation”

Hetq has received confirmation from the Ararat Diocese of the Armenian
Apostolic Church that Archbishop Navasard Kjoyan, the local primate,
received a revolver as an award from the government for services
rendered to the nation. The name of the clergyman appears on a list
of those bestowed with such a gift.

Archbishop Navasard has made the news lately after it was revealed that
the church leader accepted an expensive Bentley automobile as a gift.

When we spoke with the Diocesan press service, Elza Manukyan at first
denied the news. “He never received any such weapon,” she stated. We
then retorted that we possessed an official document stating that
Archbishop Navasard indeed had been given a weapon.

After looking over the paper, Ms. Manukyan verified that the primate
had been given a revolver which he keeps in a fire-proof cabinet. She
refused to be more specific as to the gun.

From: A. Papazian

WILL COURT HAND DOWN JAIL TIME TO TAMAMYAN?

hetq
[ 2011/03/24 | 14:00 ]

Today, Judge Mkhitar Papoyan will review the petition to jail
Major-General Hovhannes Tamamyan, recently fired as the Head of the
RA Criminal Investigations Department, for a period of two months.

Tamamyan and Varuzhan Adamyan, the former Police Chief of the Arabkir
District, were both removed from office at the behest of Prosecutor
General Aghvan Hovsepyan on February 26 for conducting a flawed
criminal investigation.

From: A. Papazian

Revue de presse No2 – 23/03/11 – Collectif VAN

Publie le : 23-03-2011

Info Collectif VAN – – Le Collectif VAN [Vigilance
Armenienne contre le Negationnisme] vous propose une revue de presse
des informations parues dans la presse francophone, sur les thèmes
concernant la Turquie, le genocide armenien, la Shoah, le genocide
des Tutsi, le Darfour, le negationnisme, l’Union europeenne, Chypre,
etc… Nous vous suggerons egalement de prendre le temps de lire ou
de relire les informations et traductions mises en ligne dans notre
rubrique

Par ailleurs, certains articles en anglais, allemand, turc, etc,
ne sont disponibles que dans la newsletter Word que nous generons
chaque jour. Pour la recevoir, abonnez-vous a la Veille-Media : c’est
gratuit ! Vous recevrez le document du lundi au vendredi dans votre
boîte email. Bonne lecture.

Collectif VAN : l’ephemeride du 23 mars 2011 Info Collectif VAN –
– La rubrique “Ephemeride” du Collectif VAN a
ete lancee le 6 decembre 2010. Elle recense la liste d’evenements
survenus a une date donnee, a differentes epoques de l’Histoire, sur
les thematiques que l’association suit au quotidien. L’ephemeride du
Collectif VAN repose sur des informations en ligne sur de nombreux
sites (les sources sont specifiees sous chaque entree). “23 mars
1869 — Empire ottoman : Calouste Gulbenkian est ne le 23 mars 1869
a Scutari, aujourd’hui Uskudar (Istanbul).

Richissime financier armenien, il est connu pour avoir legue
sa collection d’art a une fondation portugaise, la Fondation
Calouste-Gulbenkian a Lisbonne. Il fut surnomme Monsieur 5% : en 1920,
il avait judicieusement negocie une part de cinq pour cent des champs
de petrole qui venaient d’etre decouverts en Irak et en retira un
revenu de plusieurs millions de dollars, qu’il passa le reste de ses
jours a sauvegarder. Il est membre d’une illustre famille armenienne
qui, de generation en generation, tout au long des quatre siècles
qu’elle demeura en Cappadoce, apporta son mecenat a l’education,
aux arts et aux ~uvres de bienfaisance. On doit a sa famille la
creation de nombreux hôpitaux, ecoles, eglises, l’aide aux artistes
et intellectuels, la distribution de nourriture en temps de crise
et plus tard après le genocide, la creation d’espaces en Mesopotamie
pour accueillir les refugies. La Fondation Calouste-Gulbenkian, sise
a Lisbonne (Portugal), continue chaque annee, a financer quelques
projets educatifs et culturels armeniens. En 2009, le Departement
des Communautes Armeniennes a distribue 3 375 405~@”.

“Merci Monsieur Raffi Hovannisian” C’est un geste historique et
un tournant. La grève de la faim commencee le 15 mars par Raffi
Hovanissian sur la place de la liberte represente pour l’Armenie
non seulement une première historique, mais une action d’une grande
force symbolique. Dans un pays qui est en train de perdre ses repères
civiques, où les dirigeants ont la reputation de penser d’abord a
s’empiffrer avant que de songer a nourrir leur propre peuple, et qui
font souvent preuve dans cet exercice d’une goinfrerie indecente,
la portee de l’initiative de celui qui fut le Premier ministre des
Affaires etrangères de l’Armenie n’echappera a personne.

Six ans de prison requis contre John Demjanjuk “Il ne serait pas
honteux d’acquitter Demjanjuk”, titre l’editorialiste du quotidien. Le
22 mars, six ans de prison ont ete requis devant un tribunal de Munich
contre John Demjanjuk, 90 ans.”

Dîner Amical Franco-Turc a l’Assemblee Nationale “Le Reseau Pro’Actif
est une association fondee par des diplômes de l’enseignement
superieur, cadres dans le secteur prive ou se destinant a des
carrières academiques, souhaitant partager et developper leurs
reussites personnelles (sociales et professionnelles) avec la mise en
place d’un reseau de personnes de differents horizons.” Le mercredi
9 fevrier 2011, le Reseau ProActif a organise un dîner amical
franco-turc a l’Assemblee Nationale en partenariat avec M. Jean
Philippe MAURER, Depute du Bas-Rhin, Vice-president du Conseille
General, et Vice-president du Groupe d’Amitie France-Turquie de
l’Assemblee Nationale. Voici, sans commentaires de notre part, le
compte-rendu mis en ligne par cette association.

Ciments Francais : feu vert a la cession des actifs turcs Les
autorites turques de la concurrence ont donne leur feu vert a la
cession par Ciments Francais de certains de ses actifs a Limak,
rapporte Bloomberg, citant un communique du regulateur. Le groupe
avait annonce en fevrier la cession d’une partie de ses actifs turcs,
regroupes dans Set Group Holding, a Limak Holding.

Matthew Bryza critique les menaces de Bakou Matthew Bryza, ambassadeur
americain en Azerbaïdjan, a critique les menaces de l’Azerbaïdjan
d’abattre les avions civils desservant le Haut-Karabagh si l’aeroport
de la region contestee rouvre comme prevu ce printemps.

Turquie: Le gouvernement aura sa centrale russe “La Turquie n’a pas
l’intention de renoncer a sa collaboration avec la Russie dans le
domaine du nucleaire civil, a cause de la situation dans la centrale
japonaise Fukushima-1”, a declare le Premier ministre turc Redjep
Erdogan, a l’issue de sa visite a Moscou les 15 et 16 mars, rapporte
le quotidien mosocovite en ligne Gazeta.ru.

Des fusils decouverts a bord d’un avion iranien intercepte en Turquie
A l’occasion d’un contrôle de routine, les autorites turques ont
decouvert des fusils, dans un avion cargo iranien qui se rendait
en Syrie. L’avion, un Iliouchine civil en provenance de Teheran et
a destination d’Alep, a ete contraint d’atterrir le 19 mars soir a
Diyarbakir (sud-est de la Turquie) pour un contrôle de sa cargaison.

Alors que l’equipage avait declare des pièces de rechanges
d’automobiles, une fouille a bord a permis de decouvrir une caisse
de fusils automatiques.

L’info vue par la TRT (2) Le Collectif VAN vous propose cet article
publie sur la TRT (Television & Radio de Turquie). Les articles de
ce site ne sont pas commentes de notre part. Ils peuvent contenir
des propos negationnistes envers le genocide armenien ou d’autres
informations a prendre sous toute reserve. “Le president de la
Republique Abdullah Gul a fait savoir que la Turquie devait avancer
avec fermete et determination dans le processus d’adhesion a l’Union
europeenne.”

Allemagne: six ans de prison requis pour un garde de camp nazi
Le parquet allemand a requis mardi six ans de prison pour John
Demjanjuk. Aujourd’hui âge de nonante ans, il est accuse d’avoir
participe activement a l’Holocauste dans le cadre de ses agissements
en tant que garde dans le camp d’extermination nazi de Sobibor en 1943.

Ogun Samast : Yasin m’a donne une arme a feu et a dit ” tire ”
Ogun Samast, qui reconnaît etre le tueur a gages dans le meurtre
du Journaliste Hrant Dink, a dit qu’il a commis ce meurtre parce
qu’Yasin Hayal, le principal suspect dans le cas Dink lui a demande de
le faire. Parce qu’il avait 17 ans au moment du meurtre, Ogun Samast
est passe devant la cour juvenile pour la première fois le 28 fevrier
dans le district de Gulhane d’Istanbul, où les juges lui ont demande
pourquoi il a commis ce crime car il n’a pas ete paye.

From: A. Papazian