Author: Badalian Vardan

ARMENIAN LIBRARIES DIGITALIZED

AEMENPRESS
FEBRUARY 28, 2012
YERVAN

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 28, ARMENPRESS: Four libraries are being digitalized
in Armenia. Director of the National Library Tigran Zargaryan told
the reporters today that first magazines and periodicals will be
digitized. Currently the number of digitalized books reaches about
1 million but the number will grow.

“The digitalization process have started since 2001 and currently the
1-2% of the Armenian literature has been digitalized,” Zargaryan said.

He said the digitized books are being read from all the corners of
the world.

He said it has been done under the auspices of the Open Society
Institute and currently state-funded. “The digitalization process
will not result in job cut but vice versa,” Zargaryan said.

The digitalized books may be read at and
websites.

TO NAME AND SHAME?: GREEN ACTIVISTS DEMAND IDENTITIES OF MASHOTS PARK KIOSK OWNERS BE REVEALED

28.02.12 | 15:06

The young environmental activists fighting against the installment of
kiosks in Mashtots Park demand that the Yerevan municipality publish
the names of the developers.

Yerevan city authorities gave the owners of the kiosks dismantled from
Abovyan Street permission to relocate their property to the park near
Yerevan’s main thoroughfare, Mashtots Boulevard, as compensation. They
say the measure is temporary and the kiosks will later be dismantled
when reconstruction projects for this zone are realized.

The environmentalists have sent an open letter to Yerevan Mayor
Taron Margaryan, demanding that the municipality not only publish
the names of the kiosk owners, but also all the decisions made by
Yerevan authorities related to the pavilions installed in Abovyan
Street before, as well as all the decisions related to the relocation
of the pavilions from Abovyan Street to Mashtots Park and all the
contracts signed with the owners of the kiosks.

Member of “We are the Owners of Our City” initiative Gor Hakobyan says:
“It is not clear why these contracts and decisions are not provided. Is
there anything to hide? What is the problem? Are there more things
that must be done secretly?”

Shushan Sardaryan, the spokeswoman for the Yerevan mayor, told
RFE/RL’s Armenian Service that the names will be published when the
open letter is answered within the time frame defined by the law. And
as for providing the documents, Sardaryan said that the municipality
has already provided all documents and reported all the details
connected with the decision of the construction.

As of now, 2,500 people have joined the signature collection initiative
against the construction in Mashtots Park.

CUMHURIYET: CONSTITUTIONAL COURT TO RATIFY ARMENIAN BILL

Panorama.am
28/02/2012

The French Constitutional Council is expected to pass a decision on
the bill criminalizing the denial of Armenian Genocide late Tuesday
evening, Cumhuriyet reports in an article titled “Constitutional
Court to Ratify Armenian Bill.”

The French Senate passed the Armenian Genocide bill on January 23. The
bill envisages one year prison term and a fine of 45,000 euros for
anyone who denies the fact of Armenian Genocide. Later a group of
French senators appealed to the Constitutional Council against the
bill criminalizing the Armenian Genocide denial.

GEORGIA DENIES AZERBAIJANI MEDIA REGARDING PARTICIPATION IN ANTI-ARMENIAN EVENTS

Panorama.am
28/02/2012

Azerbaijani mass media reported events commemorating the 20th
anniversary of Aghdam events were held on February 23-24 in Georgia.

The initiative was supported by Azerbaijan’s Embassy in Georgia and
Kvemo Kartli governor’s office David Kirkitadze.

However, diplomatic sources don’t confirm the information. Kvemo
Kartli governor’s office doesn’t have any connection with that event.

Even more governor David Kirkitadze was at that time abroad. Deputy
governor Hussein Yusubov was present at the meeting as a head of
Congress of Azerbaijanis in Georgia.

It was also denied that Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Academy of
Sciences of Georgia were engaged in those events.

EU WON’T ASK BAKU GOING TO KARABAKH
Naira Hayrumyan

Story from Lragir.am News:

Published: 13:45:16 – 28/02/2012

Yesterday, the European Union adopted an unprecedented decision on
Nagorno Karabakh. On February 27, in the result of the conclusions of
the European Council meeting it was stated: “The EU stands ready to
provide enhanced support for confidence building measures, in support
of and in full complementarity with the Minsk Group, with a view to
facilitating further steps towards the implementation of peace. In
this regard, the EU underlines the need for unconditional access for
representatives of the EU to Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding regions.

The Council invites the High Representative and the Commission to
develop, in close consultation with the OSCE, post conflict scenarios
for Nagorno-Karabakh as a basis for future EU engagement”, is said
in the statement.

Recall, no country of the world has the official “unconditional
access” to Nagorno Karabakh. Azerbaijan is resisting to the arrival
in Karabakh of officials, public and even private people, including
those, who dare to ignore its opinion, into the black list.

Despite the wide mandate, the EU Special Representative for the South
Caucasus was unable to visit Karabakh. The ex-Representative of the
EU Peter Semneby arrived till Goris, but he turned back after a call
without reaching Karabakh.

The EU decision means that this structure accepts no more the position
of Azerbaijan as a basis for its activities. This means that the
EU decided to lead a more independent policy on the Karabakh issue,
without looking at Baku and Moscow.

Only the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs and OSCE Field Representatives
have free access to Karabakh. There is the office of the International
Committee of Red Cross in Karabakh, a number of foreign NGOs are
represented there. MPs from Russia, France and U.S. Congressmen visited
Karabakh, but each of them tried to do it out of work presenting the
visits as private.

Will the situation change after the EU decision? Is the European Union
going to open an office in Karabakh through which its “post-conflict
scenarios” will be fulfilled.

SHADY DEAL? MAYOR USES MUNICIPAL BUILDING AS COLLATERAL FOR $10,000 BANK LOAN
Grisha Balasanyan

hetq
12:50, February 27, 2012

Last October, Armavair Regional Administrator Ashot Ghahramanyan
bestowed Mrgashat village Mayor Gevorg Danielyan with a letter of
commendation for renovating the St. Astvatzatzin Church.

What Ghahramanyan still doesn’t know is that Mayor Danielyan took
out a $10,000 bank loan and used the village municipal building as
collateral. The mayor signed off on the bank loan without the approval
of the municipal council.

When I spoke to Mayor Danielyan he brushed off any inference of
wrongdoing. He refused to be recorded and would only say that the loan
was for work on the church and that a part of the loan was already
paid off.

“Last year we spent 68 million AMD ($175,000) on renovating the
church. The money was from the village budget. It was an old church
in terrible condition. What’s the big fuss?”

Our sources in Mrgashat told us that last year the mayor took 18
hectares of land from the uncultivated land from the villagers and
used it to plant cotton for himself. The loan, they claim, was for
this purpose.

They also state that the church wasn’t renovated with municipal funds
but by small and large donations made by the residents themselves
and that Sargis Khlghatyan, brother of the Mayor of Armavir, donated
money to repair the church roof. Another benefactor was MP Nahapet
Gevorgyan who was bestowed the title of honorary Mgrashat citizen by
the village council in gratitude.

Many in the village were also unaware that the municipal building had
been used as collateral for a bank loan. There’s no bulletin board in
the office and no information about municipal dealings or budgetary
matters gets posted.

“There was notice board outside but some village kids tore it down.

I’ll have a new one installed in a few days,” Mayor Danielyan promised.

When we asked Regional Administrator Ghahramanyan if he knew of other
municipal property in Armavir that had been used as bank collateral,
he said there wasn’t any on file.

So it would appear that Mayor Danielyan conducted the loan transaction
on the “sly” and that it was most probably for personal rather than
village related reasons.

In his defense, Mayor Danielyan boasted that in the eleven years
he’s served as village mayor, he’s built a club, a hospital and
a kindergarten.

He says that the village roads and one of the school annexes are in
need of repair and that work will begin this year. He couldn’t tell
me what particular project would encompass such endeavours.

“Project? There are many projects out there,” was his response.

He also pointed to municipal funding for a football team and dance,
puppet and painting clubs.

Mayor Danielyan says he pays particular attention to the senior
citizens in the village. He was even to tell me the exact number of
grandfathers and grandmothers; 350 and 420.

He says the municipality pays for an annual trip that takes them to
Lake Sevan.

“This year, we’ll go somewhere different for the summer. But we’ll
take them separately so as not to quarrel,” Mayor Danielyan joked.

He said that starting this year, the municipality would send a wreath
of flowers to burial services whenever someone in the village passes
away.

Every year, 3-4 million of the village’s 90 million AMD budget is
spent of social services, Danielyan added.

The mayor told me that 1.2 kilometres of village streets will get
lighting installed and that the State Water Resources Committee has
launched a tender for the repair of 7.5 kilometres of irrigation pipes.

Person dies at Akhtala mine

05:40 pm | February 25, 2012 | Social

A person died as a result of an accident that took place at the ore
mining factory in Akhtala.

Former Head of the Guard Service of the Ore Mining Factory in Akhtala
Ivan Jaghinyan told “A1+” that 22-year old Garik Aghtchyan, who was in
a truck during the shaking of the ore, tried to fix the problem, stuck
his head out, and at that point, the rock struck him to the wall. The
Director for Foreign Relations of the ore mining factory confirmed the
news.

According to Director for Foreign Relations of the ore mining factory
Mr. Shahnazaryan, the case was a result of the violation of security
rules.

He mentioned that employees of the Technical Security Center would
visit the site on Monday and would give a concrete clarification after
examination. Garik Aghtchyan moved to Akhtala nearly two months ago
from Spitak city to settle and work in Akhtala.

We remind that recently “A1+” received a letter signed by Ivan
Jaghinyan and Arkadi Arushanyan in which it was particularly stated:
“We, a group of employees of the ore mining factory in Akhtala, on 20
February sent an open letter to the RA President, presenting the
intolerable working, social, labor security and nature protection
issues of the employees and issues related to the bad situation at the
structures belonging to the ore mining factory of Akhtala in the
Akhtala and Shamlugh cities.”

France24 refutes misinformation of Azerbaijani propaganda about Khojaly

16:17 25/02/2012 » Society

Azerbaijani mass media outlets reported that France24 broadcast a
reporting, prepared by a correspondent who visited Azerbaijan a week
ago, which covers the story of Khojaly events reflecting the version
of Azerbaijani side.

Panorama.am asked Philip de Nasser, deputy director of France 24,
responsible for French-language content, to comment after he
familiarized himself with the information in French, spread in
particular by news agency APA.

`I confirm we don’t have any kind of project,’ Philip de Nasser stated
having completely refuting misinformation of Azerbaijani propaganda.

Source: Panorama.am

Women threatened and demanded money by a prisoner through the site

16:40 . 25/02

The coworkers of the General department for fighting against organized
crime of RA Police uncovered a group of criminals recently, who have
tried to steal money from women threatening from “Sevan” penitentiary
through the site “ïÄÎÏËÌÁÓÓÎÉËÉ”.

They informed panorama.am from the police one of the women who was
targeted by the criminals turned to the mentioned department and
informed that a person got in touch with her through her page on the
site and threatened that if she doesn’t give him 250, 000 AMD , he
will spread photos of sexual character with her face on the site.

By the help of the coworkers of the operative service of the
department, the woman promises the money through the site to the
threatening man. They arrange beforehand that she will give the money
to a taxi driver who was to pass it to the author of the plan. The
coworkers of the operative service follow the taxi driver and it turns
out the criminal is in “Sevan” penitentiary.

The suspects were two- 36 years old Artak Abrahamyan and 42 years old
Samvel Simonyan.

As informed by the same source, the materials prepared were sent to
the general investigation department of the police. A criminal action
was started under Article 182 (Part 2, Point2) of RA Criminal Code.

Armenian astrologist’s new discovery

05:00 pm | February 25, 2012 | Social

The international scientific group, which includes astrologist Garik
Israelyan, has found that the chemical structure of Earth-like planets
can be strictly different from Earth. This can have a sharp impact on
the biosphere, as well as the presence and formation of life on the
Earth-like planets.

The research group includes Jade Carter-Bond and David O’Bryan (Planet
Research Institute, Arizona, USA), Elisa Delgado Mena and Nunu Santush
(University of Portu, Portugal), Garik Israelyan and Jonay Gonzales
Hernandez (Institute of Astro-Physics of the Canarian Islands). The
results will be released in the reputable Astrophysical Journal
Letters magazine on March 1, 2012.

The study on the components of the luminescent spheres of the main
stars of planets is a key that allows one to understand how planets
are shaped and from which clouds the planets emerge from. These
studies, which will have important consequences to the evolution of
tremendous planets and the shaping of models, also helps us study the
structure and composition of the extra-solar planets inside and in the
atmosphere.

Garik Israelyan graduated from Yerevan State University in 1987 and
has worked at the Observatory of the National Academy of Sciences of
Armenia in Byurakan. In 1992, he defended his thesis for candidate of
sciences. Then, he worked at the astrological centers in several
countries and has been Head of the “Astrochemical Compositions”
Project at the Institute of Astrophysics of Canarian Islands since
2000. Israelyan, Swiss astrophysic Michel Mayor and Portuguese
astrophysic Nunu Santush are the laureates of the first International
Victor Hambardzumyan Award in 2010, reports the Armenian Astrological
Society.