Author: Andres-Papazian

USAID NOMINEE FAILS TO EXPLAIN $25 MILLION SHORTFALL IN AID TO NAGORNO KARABAKH

armradio.am
03.12.2010 11:32

Written responses by a senior United States Agency for International
Development (USAID) nominee to a series of questions posed by Senator
Robert Menendez (D-NJ) offer insight into the details of U.S.

assistance programs in Nagorno Karabakh, but fail to explain the
roughly $25 million shortfall between the level of aid intended
by Congress and the amount that has actually been spent since this
program was launched some 12-year ago, reported the Armenian National
Committee of America (ANCA).

The written answers were offered by Paige Eve Alexander, the White
House’s nominee to serve as the Assistant Administrator of USAID,
as a follow up to her November 17, 2010 appearance before the Senate
Foreign Relations Committee. During the November hearing, Alexander,
avoided directly responding to the Senator’s inquiries about whey
only $35 million of the $60 million Congress intended for Nagorno
Karabakh had been expended, choosing instead to commit, in general
terms, to working to make sure that the “assistance goes to where it
was intended Congressionally.”

Senator Menendez followed up, in writing, with even more specific
inquiries, including the following question addressing the most recent
instances of underfunding : “Starting in FY 2009, Congress allocated
up to $8 million for Nagorno Karabakh, but the State Department
continued to only allocate $2 million for each of these years. Please
explain why USAID has not allocated the full amounts appropriated
for assistance projects for Nagorno-Karabakh.” Alexander responded,
in writing, that: “If confirmed, I look forward to working closely
with you on this important issue. I understand from briefings that
USAID assistance to Nagorno-Karabakh has remained constant since
2001 despite a sharp decline in the regional budget and a number
of competing priorities. USAID is the only U.S. Government agency
carrying out development projects in Nagorno-Karabakh. Funding provided
by the American people has improved shelters, health facilities,
schools, community centers, water systems, and loan access for
microenterprises. The current identified priorities are completing the
demining of Nagorno-Karabakh and providing access to potable water.”

From: A. Papazian

ALTERNATIVE AND TRADITIONAL MEDIA IN ARMENIA
Samvel Martirosyan

02.12.2010

Global tendency of alternative and traditional media merging Current
development of the Internet brought on the one hand to competition
between the alternative and traditional media and on the other hand to
supplementing each other. Global experience of the recent years came
to prove that the so-called civil journalism (which includes bloggers,
the users of the social networks and other similar civil resources)
in some situations appears to be more efficient than the traditional
media1. Moreover, for traditional media social networks become an
essential source of readers who pass by the links from other users
of the networks.

In cases when on-line information on the spot is needed bloggers and
the users of the social networks turn out to be more efficient than
traditional media. The civil journalism is also more effective in
places where the activity of the media is restricted for some reason
or other. Thus, for example, over the period of confrontation between
the authorities and opposition in Iran in 2009, the main sources of
information from the streets where the encounters were taking place
were the bloggers with their mobile phones2.

Such a development of communications brings to the integration of all
the big traditional media with the sources of alternative journalism.

It is mainly reflected in some elements:

Mass media use the environment of the alternative journalism as a
source of information For this purpose the specialists who have
skills of obtaining efficient and, which is important, reliable
information from the blogs and social networks are involved Mass
media open their blogs and boost blogging by their journalists Mass
media tend to increase their presence in social networks and blogs,
to become newsmakers in this information environment, to become
reliable sources of information.

Armenian traditional media at the crossroads The same processes are
taking place in the Armenian information field but with some time
lag. Armenian media today actively try to integrate with the social
networks and blogs. Almost the entire traditional press now works
in the social networks in order to attain renown among the users of
Facebook, Odnoklassniki.ru and etc.

For the Armenian media, especially printed press, social media become
the only possibility to keep afloat. Taking into consideration the fact
that most of the newspapers have a circulation from several hundred to
several thousand copies, one may forecast that under such a tendency
the printed press of the social and political orientation will be
disappearing from the information field due to their uselessness and
expensiveness (which does not correlate well enough with the scanty
coverage of the audience and a weak impact on the society).

At the same time possibility to go on-line and then become a source
of information is an opportunity for the Armenian mass media to
â~@~rebornâ~@~].

At present moment many Armenian newspapers have almost equal share of
audience in on-line and printed versions3. Taking into consideration
the fact that the on-line version of newspaper is much cheaper and
the potential readership on the Internet is much broader, transitions
of their activity to the Internet becomes more and more topical for
the traditional mass media.

Armenia in social networks The Armenia Internet is now in the phase
of bursting growth.

Competition between mobile operators and internet connection providers
caused an abrupt reduction of prices in the sector. In this regard
the number of the Internet users is growing much faster than in 2008.

Correspondingly, the growth of the number of the social networksâ~@~Y
users is also growing.

If we consider the situation with traffic of the Armenian information
portals as compared with the traffic of the social networks and
blogs the situations is quite an interesting. All the Armenian news
resources registered on Circle.am rating system4 (these are almost
all the main actors â~@~S about 150 sites) have about 170 thousand
visitors per day5. And only 43% of visitors are from Armenia.

Thus, according to the data of Ditord.com there are 450 thousand
registered users of Odnoklassniki.ru social network in Armenia6.

Odnoklassniki still remains the most popular social network in
Armenia. There are about 200 thousand users from Armenia registered
in VKonakte,Ru7.

At the same time the most actively developing network in Armenia
today is Facebook â~@~S the biggest global social network. Here the
number of the users from Armenia is about 80 thousand. And the growth
of the number of the users is approximately 10-15% per month.

If in the quantitative aspect Facebook still drops behind Odnoklassniki
seriously, in the aspect of activity quite an opposite situation
can be observed, According to the data of alexa.com, which carries
out monitoring of the Internet users all over the world, at the end
of August Facebook outstripped Odnoklassniki in the aspect of the
generated traffic in Armenia (according to the statistics Facebook
takes second place after Google, and Odnoklassniki is on the third
place)8.

Facebook has turned into a tool of the civil activity for the socially
active part of the population. Such civil initiatives as the movement
against the demolition of the open-air hall of â~@~Moscowâ~@~]
cinema and the movement against opening of the foreign language
schools were initiated through Facebook and blogosphere. The group
which struggles against destruction of green zones in Yerevan also
coordinates its activity through Facebook. Those groups are numerous
and they are a source of serious civil activity which opinion is taken
into consideration by both government and political powers in Armenia:

SAVE Cinema Moscow Open-Air Hall â~@~S 6600 registered members9
Õ~DÕ¥Õ~[Õ¶Ö~D Õ¥Õ¶Ö~D Õ¡ÕµÕ½ Ö~DÕ¡Õ²Õ¡Ö~DÕ« Õ¿Õ¥Ö~@Õ¨ (We are the
masters of our city) â~@~S 3670 registered members10 Õ~DÕ¥Õ¶Ö~D
Õ¤Õ¥Õ~[Õ´ Õ¥Õ¶Ö~D Ö~EÕ¿Õ¡Ö~@Õ¡Õ¬Õ¥Õ¦Õ¸Ö~B Õ¤ÕºÖ~@Õ¸Ö~AÕ¶Õ¥Ö~@Õ«
Õ¾Õ¥Ö~@Õ¡Õ¢Õ¡Ö~AÕ´Õ¡Õ¶Õ¨ (We are against re-opening of foreign language
schools in Armenia) â~@~S 3250 registered members11 To compare, the
audience of such groups can be compared with the Armenian audience
of main Armenian on-line news resources.

Correspondingly, informational value of such groups on definite issues
sometimes becomes qualitatively higher than the one of the traditional
mass media. At the same time it becomes important for the press to
be presented in such groups as a source of information which allows
increasing audience.

1See: «УÐ~RÐ~UÐ~[Ð~XЧÐ~UÐ~]Ð~XÐ~U РÐ~^Ð~[Ð~X
СÐ~^ЦÐ~XÐ~PÐ~[ЬÐ~]ЫХ СÐ~UТÐ~UÐ~Y
Ð~R Ð~XÐ~]ФÐ~^РÐ~Ð~PЦÐ~XÐ~^Ð~]Ð~]Ð~^Ð~
Ð~_Ð~^Ð~[Ð~U», Самвел Ð~аÑ~@Ñ~BиÑ~@оÑ~AÑ~Oн,

2See: «Ð~XРÐ~PÐ~] â~@~S Ð~XСÐ~_Ð~^Ð~[ЬÐ~WÐ~^Ð~RÐ~PÐ~]Ð~XÐ~U
Ð~PÐ~[ЬТÐ~UРÐ~]Ð~PТÐ~XÐ~RÐ~]ЫХ
Ð~ZÐ~^Ð~Ð~УÐ~]Ð~XÐ~ZÐ~PЦÐ~XÐ~Y»,
Самвел Ð~аÑ~@Ñ~BиÑ~@оÑ~AÑ~Oн,

3See: Ð~_оÑ~AеÑ~IаемоÑ~AÑ~BÑ~L
оÑ~AновнÑ~KÑ~E аÑ~@мÑ~OнÑ~AкиÑ~E СÐ~Ð~X
в Ñ~@ейÑ~Bинговой Ñ~AиÑ~AÑ~Bеме Circle –

4

5Visiting of the site by the same user in 30 minutes is considered
as a new visit.

6

7

8

9!/group.php?gid=343138923439

10

11

“Globus National Security”, issue 6
——————————————————————————–
Another materials of author

CYBER TROOPS: NECESSITY DICTATED BY TIME [06.09.2010] SUPERFLUIDITY
OF INFORMATION IN SOCIAL NETWORKS[01.06.2010] INCREASING OF THE ROLE
OF THE SOCIAL NETWORKS ON THE MEDIA FIELD[19.04.2010] PROPAGANDA
MACHINERY OF AZERBAIJAN: NEW TENDENCIES [08.02.2010] INFORMATIONAL
CONTEXT OF THE POSSIBLE OPENING OF THE TURKSIH BORDER[21.12.2009]

From: A. Papazian

PLACIDO DOMINGO REVEALS THE SECRET OF HIS DELICATE VOICE AT NEWS CONFERENCE IN YEREVAN

PanARMENIAN.Net
December 2, 2010 – 20:09 AMT 16:09 GMT

World renowned Spanish tenor Placido Domingo revealed the secret of
his delicate voice at news conference in Yerevan.

“All of my 128 opera roles are unique to me. I cannot single out any
one of those,” the singer observed.

Revealing the secret of his delicate voice, Domingo noted with a
gentlemanlike refinement, “~SVoice” is a feminine noun is Spanish,
and therefore, must be treated with love and attention, like a
woman. This is where the secret lies,” the tenor said.

From: A. Papazian

PHILIP HAGOPIAN: MY PAINTINGS SHOW VERSATILITY OF LIFE

PanARMENIAN.Net
December 3, 2010 – 12:18 AMT 08:18 GMT

An exhibition of the Armenian American painter Philip Hagopian opened
in Yerevan on December 2.

“My paintings show how wonderful and versatile the life is,” Hagopian
told a PanARMENIAN.Net reporter.

Chairman of the Armenian painting department of the National Art
Gallery Armen Gasparyan commented: “Over 70 works displayed here
evidence of the artist’s talent. You can see realism, surrealism, still
life and portraits. Hagopian calls on us to love and cherish the world
we live in, to smile, dream and think, to listen to our inner voice.”

Philip Hagopian was born in Massachusetts in 1959. Graduated from
Boston University College of Fine Arts. Member of the International
Union of Armenian Artists and Armenian Artists’ Union.

From: A. Papazian

UNAIDS REPORT RECORDS PROGRESS IN HIV/AIDS CONTROL AND ERADICATION

PanARMENIAN.Net
December 2, 2010 – 18:37 AMT 14:37 GMT

The 2010 edition of the UNAIDS Report on the global AIDS epidemic
includes new country by country scorecards on key issues facing the
AIDS response. Based on the latest data from 182 countries, this
global reference book provides comprehensive analysis on the AIDS
epidemic and response. For the first time the report includes trend
data on incidence from more than 60 countries, reporting progress in
their efforts to control and eventually eradicate HIV/AIDS.

A worldwide decline in infection rates was recorded. According to
the 2010 report from UNAIDS, the United Nations’ HIV/AIDS program,
the overall HIV infection rate has declined almost 20 percent in
10 years – from 3.1 million new cases in 1999 to 2.6 million in
2009. That decrease follows decades of explosive growth in the number
of infections.

A decline in South Africa’s infection rates: South Africa has the
world’s largest number of people living with HIV – 5.6 million,
according to AVERT, a U.K.-based AIDS organization. But it is also
one of the 56 countries that have slowed or stabilized their HIV
infection rates. There was a 25 percent decline in the infection rate
between 2001 and 2009, according to the U.N. The HIV infection rate
among 18-year-olds declined from 1.8 percent in 2005 to 0.8 percent
in 2008, and among women ages 15 to 24, it dropped from 5.5 percent
to 2.2 percent between 2003 and 2008.

Fewer dying from AIDS-related illnesses: The number of people dying
from AIDS-related illnesses has also dropped. In 2009, according
to UNAIDS, about 1.8 million people died, compared with 2.1 million
in 2004 – almost a 20 percent decline. Most experts attribute that
success to better access to treatment. The number of people getting
treatment has increased 7.5 times in the past five years – up to 5.2
million in 2009, compared with 700,000 in 2004.

UNAIDS also reports that the number of people living with HIV has
increased slightly, as life expectancy improves because of access to
antiretroviral treatments.

Safer sexual practices: UNAIDS reports that the adoption of safer
sexual practices is central to a decline of more than 25 percent in
new HIV infection rates among young people in countries with a high
prevalence of HIV/AIDS. Of safe sexual practices, one of the most
notable developments is the increase in condom use and availability.

Fewer babies born with HIV: UNAIDS estimates that 370,000 children
were newly-infected in 2009, which is a large number, but is also a
24 percent decline from several years ago.

The number of HIV-positive pregnant women who received treatment to
prevent transmission of HIV to their children increased drastically
– from 35 percent in 2007 to 53 percent in 2009. The number of
countries with large numbers of women not receiving treatment to
prevent transmission has shrunk to 14.

From: A. Papazian

MEDAL IN HONOR OF FORMER CHIEF ARCHITECT OF YEREVAN JIM TOROSYAN INSTITUTED IN ARMENIA

PanARMENIAN.Net
December 3, 2010 – 13:23 AMT 09:23 GMT

On December 3, the Union of Armenian Architects hosted presentation
of a medal named after the former chief architect of Yerevan,
Jim Torosyan.

As the president of the Architects Union Mkrtich Minasyan noted, the
medal, to be cast out of gold and silver, will be awarded to young
winners of international competitions, as well as acclaimed architects.

The head of medal institution committee, Armenian Minister of Science
and Education Armen Ashotyan was also invited to participate.

Jim Torosyan is a member of the Union of Armenian Architects, full
member of the International Academy of Architecture, full member of
the Russian Academy of Architecture and Construction Sciences. The
architect’s honors and awards include: People’s Architect of the USSR,
Winner of the USSR State Prize Winner of the State Prize of Armenia
Soviet Republic, Professor.

From: A. Papazian

PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES NEED ASSISTANCE RATHER THAN COMPASSION AND INDULGENCE

PanARMENIAN.Net
December 3, 2010 – 16:31 AMT 12:31 GMT

Director of Unison NGO Armen Alaverdyan said that people with
disabilities need to be integrated into our society so that the
society learns to treat them correctly.

“If people get used to seeing people with disabilities in all fields,
their reaction will be rather adequate,” Alaverdyan told a press
conference.

According to him, seeing a person with disabilities, people
start feeling sorry what is absolutely unacceptable. “People with
disabilities need assistance rather than compassion and indulgence,”
said Alaverdyan.

However, he noted that a considerable step forward was taken in this
matter in Armenia over recent years. People started treating people
with disabilities more adequately.

From: A. Papazian

ARFD HAS NO INTENTION TO RE-JOIN COALITION

PanARMENIAN.Net
December 3, 2010 – 16:59 AMT 12:59 GMT

Kiro Manoyan, ARF Bureau’s Hay Dat and Political Affairs Office
Director, said that Dashnaktsutyun has no intention to re-join the
ruling coalition but will collaborate with it on the issues vital
for Armenia.

“Even when the Armenian National Movement held power and many of
our friends were in jail, we cooperated with the authorities for
resolution of foreign policy problems,” he said.

From: A. Papazian

IMF: ARMENIA NEEDS STRUCTURAL REFORMS

PanARMENIAN.Net
December 2, 2010 – 21:20 AMT 17:20 GMT

Recovery is underway in Armenia in 2010, but the pace is slow,
according to the IMF Executive Board.

As the external environment has improved, industry and services are
rebounding, but agriculture has been hit hard by adverse weather. With
a rebound of agriculture, output is expected to grow by 4 percent in
2010, slower than the 6½ percent pace registered in the first half
of the year, and by 4½ percent next year, the Public Information
Notice said.

The contraction of agricultural output and a rise in imported wheat
prices have translated into higher food prices. Comprising nearly
half of the weight of the consumer price index, higher food prices
have pushed annual inflation over 9 percent in recent months. However,
as food price shocks recede, inflation should decline to 7 percent by
end-2010, and with appropriate monetary and fiscal policies in place,
to the central bank~Rs target of 4±1.5 percent during the second half
of 2011.

As the economy recovers, the authorities~R focus is shifting
to medium-term challenges, including restoring strong growth –
from new sources – and reducing poverty, ensuring fiscal and debt
sustainability, and maintaining financial sector stability.

Post-crisis policies include fiscal consolidation, increased
exchange rate flexibility, continued commitment to price stability,
strengthening the banking sector, and stepping up structural reforms.

From: A. Papazian

ARMAVIA AWARDS ITS 700,000TH PASSENGER

PanARMENIAN.Net
December 3, 2010 – 16:35 AMT 12:35 GMT

On December 3, Armavia air company gifted a TV set to its 700,000th
passenger – Lusine Mosoyan – who used the company’s services for
three times in past three days.

Lusine Mosoyan brought to Armenia Á leaded panel with picture of Our
Lady, which she created for Etchmiadzin.

“Compliant with its traditions, Armavia prepared a surprise also this
time for the 700,000th passenger,” Armavia Acting Commercial Director
Aghvan Grigoryan said.

According to him, the passenger traffic grew in 2010 compared to the
same period in 2009.

Grigoryan expressed hope that in 2011 the company will gain a record
index of 1,000,000 passengers, while the lucky passenger will be
granted a Mercedes car.

From: A. Papazian