Author: Arbi Tashjian

 13:11, 1 September 2022

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 1, ARMENPRESS. The participants of the incident in the town of Vedi in Ararat Province are Turkish citizens, authorities confirmed to ARMENPRESS.

“They are Turkish nationals, a married couple,” Investigative Committee spokesperson Vardan Tadevosyan told ARMENPRESS.

The Investigative Committee launched proceedings based on the materials forwarded by police.

Media reports and a footage showed the Turkish nationals attempting to party in Vedi, insulting Armenians, which then resulted in a brawl.

 17:29, 1 September 2022

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 1, ARMENPRESS. High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission Josep Borrell welcomed the recent trilateral meeting between Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and President of the European Council Charles Michel.

“Welcome 4th meeting between @CharlesMichel, @azpresident & @NikolPashinyan. Important to keep working to advance on a peace treaty & continue with efforts on humanitarian & connectivity areas. EU continues to be fully engaged in support of peaceful, secure & prosperous South Caucasus,” Borrell tweeted.

 10:32,

YEREVAN, AUGUST 31, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan addressed a congratulatory message to India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Armenia and India, the PM’s Office said.

The message reads:

“Dear Mr. Prime Minister,

I cordially congratulate you on the 30^th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between our friendly countries.

I should praise the fact that the ties between our nations having millennia-old history have got a new impetus especially in recent years. The best evidence of it is the mutually beneficial cooperation that is growing and developing in various areas day by day. The political dialogue has activated, the Armenian-Indian inter-governmental commission is effectively operating, there is a close cooperation in education, culture, IT, defense, trade-economic and other sectors.

Armenia highly appreciates the caring attitude of Indian authorities towards the Armenian community, Armenian historical sites and heritage.

I hope with bilateral efforts we will register new achievements for the welfare of our friendly countries and peoples.

Your Excellency,

Armenia highly values the reputation of friendly India that is growing year by year in today’s rapidly changing world order because peace-loving and democratic India could play a positive role in the fair solution of numerous problems facing the world and our regions.

Armenia, like in the past, is ready to support friendly India in different international platforms.

I wish you good health and success, and to the friendly people of India – lasting peace and welfare”.

 10:51,

YEREVAN, AUGUST 29, ARMENPRESS. A total of 212 amusement rides are listed in the Ministry of Emergency Situations list of potentially hazardous industrial structures.

134 are located in Yerevan while the 78 are in other cities.

As of the latest data (2022 August), 139 amusement rides (89 in Yerevan and 50 in other cities) passed a general inspection and received the technical safety approval.

The Director of the Expertise Laboratory of the National Center of Technical Safety Martin Aslanyan told ARMENPRESS that all amusement rides will undergo the inspection prior to commissioning.

In the event of a given amusement ride failing the safety inspection, the conclusion is forwarded to the Urban Development and Fire Inspection Agency which bans the amusement ride until its standards are improved to match the regulations.

“In accordance with Article 11 paragraph 6 of the Law on State Regulation for Ensuring Technical Safety, every industrial structure, in this case the amusement ride, must undergo a technical safety inspection at least once a year, and it can be put into operation only after receiving the positive conclusion,” Aslanyan said.

Regarding the amusement rides which haven’t yet been inspected, Aslanyan said the previous conclusions on these structures are still in effect and the next inspections will take place as planned under the deadlines.

“As of this moment we’ve received a request for inspection from Gyumri city,  the application is now being processed and the technical safety inspection will be carried out in approximately 5 business days,” Martin Aslanyan said.

According to Yelena Zohrabyan, the Director for Public Relations at the Urban Development and Fire Safety Inspection Agency, if the businesses ignore the ban on operations after failing the safety inspection they are fined 1,000,000 drams and face suspension.

Zohrabyan said they’ve received information on 41 amusement rides from the Ministry of Emergency Situations which hadn’t passed the safety inspection as of May, 2022. However, when officers arrived at the addresses for inspection it was revealed that a part of these structures were already decommissioned, while others were being reconstructed or under development.

Gayane Gaboyan

 11:12, 25 August 2022

YEREVAN, AUGUST 25, ARMENPRESS. Korea Development Institute (KDI) has a special place in South Korea’s economic life.

Founded in 1971, Korea Development Institute has been recognized as a leading think tank of Korea significantly contributing to the economic and social development of the country. KDI has conducted research on a broad range of economic and social issues, including macroeconomics policy, fiscal policy, and labor.

From the moment of its establishment up to 1996 the Institute has developed and presented to the country’s leadership 5-Year Economic Development Plans which have been consistently implemented by ensuring the country’s drastic economic development. Since 1996, this policy of fulfilling 5-Year Plans has been suspended, but the Institute continues cooperating with the government, assisting with policy development and implementation.

Within the frameworks of the media tour organized by the Korean Culture and Information Service, ARMENPRESS spoke with KDI Visiting Senior Fellow Byung Koo Cho. He said that the development and implementation of these 5-Year Economic Development Plans is justified, the evidence of which is the high level of economic development of South Korea.

“In 1960s we thought it’s necessary to achieve economic development with the use of own technologies, and the 5-Year Plans served for achieving this goal. Everything worked out well for us, that’s why we achieved such success”, he said.

According to him, Korea has achieved wonderful economic results because of these 5-Year Plans, however, notes that this path was also full of barriers and crisis situations which were overcome thanks to a flexible policy.

“During the implementation of the 4th Plan, President Park Chung-hee died, and starting from late 1960s up to mid-1970s our country faced an economic and political crisis. There was also the conflict with North Korea, and that time North Korea was a richer country economically, politically and militarily. We were mainly exporting light industry products that time, such as clothing, shoes, etc. The problem was that many other countries had that product and were exporting it, therefore, we understood that we need to focus on other directions. There was a goal to develop the military and defense industry. But Korea didn’t have that capacities that time, and starting 1973 our country began developing the heavy and chemical industry”, Byung Koo Cho said.

How South Korea made such a drastic economic development thanks to the 5-Year Plans, Byung Koo Cho gives a very simple explanation. According to him, many countries have developed economic development plans, but developing plans only is one thing, and implementing them is another. He thinks that these plans must be implemented, not be left on paper.

The KDI Visiting Senior Fellow informed that every time facing a new crisis the leaders of South Korea were changing the development plans in order to adapt to the new situation and overcome the crisis.

Another feature that Korea has, according to Byung Koo Cho, is that here private companies have a big role and freedom in promoting the economic development plans. “In other countries the government is pushing forward the economic development plan, but in our country private companies have freedom in this regard. That’s why Samsung and Hyundai developed that time and still continue their development course”, he said.

Currently, South Korea also has its own military production as the country is producing tanks, missiles, fighter jets. South Korea started its own military production after the collapse of the Soviet Union when they managed to obtain the military technologies of the collapsed Union. “On its basis we achieved the development of the military industry, but, of course, with developing, improving the technologies that we have obtained. Now we have orders for military products from Poland, Norway and other countries”, he added.

Before the interview, the reporter of ARMENPRESS also toured the Global Knowledge Exchange & Development Center where the models and main directions of economic development of modern Korea are presented in chronological order.

Shant Khlghatyan

Photos by PENTA PRESS

 12:45,

YEREVAN, AUGUST 24, ARMENPRESS. The government of Armenia will not provide compensation to the businesses that were affected from the recent explosion in Yerevan’s Surmalu trade center, Minister of Economy Vahan Kerobyan told reporters after the Cabinet meeting.

He said that the businessmen operating in Surmalu have not had insured their property.

“The government cannot take on itself a function and compensate that cost which the insurance company should have compensated. If the businessman did not consider that risk high, the government has nothing to do there”, he said.

The Surmalu blast, which took place on August 14, killed 16 and injured 60 more others.

 11:54,

YEREVAN, AUGUST 22, ARMENPRESS. Breast cancer continues to claim many lives all over the world. The biggest problem is that women often visit a doctor when the disease is already at the final stage. In order to prevent the disease, every woman should regularly be examined.

In an interview to ARMENPRESS, oncologist-surgeon Artur Avetisyan, the deputy director of the National Center of Oncology named after Fanarjyan, said that the breast cancer is the most common cancer diagnosed in women and could lead to very serious consequences because of not detecting it on time.

“Unfortunately, many people in Armenia see the breast cancer at the stage when it becomes visible or palpable. Even if it is very small, we could already assume that it could have been detected earlier thanks to the regular screenings”, he said.

Talking about the causes of the breast cancer, Artur Avetisyan said that they are many and the meeting of these various causes in one place could cause the disease. Among the causes he mentions a hereditary factor, obesity, passive lifestyle and abuse of different types of hormone substitutes or drugs containing female hormones, etc.

“The breast cancer is spread globally, but in developed countries the number of deaths associated with this disease is declining. This is thanks to early detection and quality treatment”, he added.

The oncologist-surgeon notes that in order to avoid the disease, it is necessary to follow the weight, run a healthy lifestyle, avoid using hormone substitutes for a long time and regularly undergo medical examination.

As for the screening programs, the doctor said that it aims at examining everyone in a concrete age or risky group which will allow to detect early the disease and fully prevent its further complications.

Interview by Gayane Gaboyan

Photos by Hayk Manukyan

 12:42,

YEREVAN, AUGUST 19, ARMENPRESS. The Yerevan Days in Gyumri festival has been delayed until September 2-3, organizers said Friday.

“Given the unfortunate events that took place in the Surmalu trade center and the resulting human losses, the Yerevan Days in Gyumri series of cultural events will take place September 2-3 instead of August 26-27,” the Yerevan City Hall said.