Author: Chakrian Hovsep

VARDANYAN SAYS COURT DECISION IS DEFEAT OF PEOPLES IN THE WORLD

Panorama.am
13:17 28/08/2009

The decision of California State Court of Appeal addressed against
Armenians is not only the defeat of Armenian people but people of the
world, Arpi Vardanyan, the director of Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh
offices of Armenian Assembly of America told at news conference.

It’s worth reminding that U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals created Code of
Civil Procedure which extended the deadline for suing on life insurance
policies issued to "any person of Armenian or other ancestry living
in the Ottoman Empire during the period of 1915 to 1923, inclusive,
who died, was deported, or escaped to avoid persecution during that
period," and expanded state court jurisdiction over such claims.

It is said the law interfered anti-constitutionally the foreign policy
of America.

"Rejection of various archived documents addresses threat towards
peoples of the world, as ignoring and rejecting Genocide, new tragedies
could appear," she said.

The court is going to appeal the case in 30 days, and according
to Mrs. Vardanyan, hopefully they will adopt another decision,
if not, then the case will be sent to the Constitutional Court
of California. "We demand the U.S. President Barack Obama and his
Administration to make definite statement on this issue claiming
that California court has misunderstood the disposition of America,"
she said.

THE AUGUST TEACHER CONFERENCE LAUNCHED IN VANADZOR

Aysor, Armenia
Aug 26 2009

Today in Vanadzor launched the August teacher’s conference on which
was present also the RA Education and Science Minister Armen Ashotyan.

As the reporter of Aysor.am informed the representatives of teaching
collectives of Lori region and other regions as well as officials of
Lori region.

"There are many questions that should be discussed by the participation
of the ministry, but by the agenda we will firstly touch upon the
educational issues", – mentioned Aram Qocharyan.

The regional governor of Lori Aram Qocharyan noted also that the
educational area is still being improved and there are serious things
to be done especially concerning the senior schools.

"This year too, as usual, we together with the executives and the
employees of the educational system were in one hall where we discuss
the present problems and bring together everything that we have done
during the last year of the educational system. 2008-2009 years were
significant for the general educational life and educational system by
several achievements and success, especially I am speaking about the
success achieved especially in Olympiads", – said the Lori Governor.

The conference will go on for two more weeks during which will be
discussed different questions concerning the general education and
the plans of the 2009-10 educational years.

FIDE GRAND PRIX 2008/2009 STANDINGS – ARONIAN WINS

Chessbase News
Aug 26 2009
Germany

26.08.2009 – With one tournament still left Levon Aronian is already
the winner of the 2008/2009 FIDE Grand Prix. The Armenian GM has
collected a total of 500 points from two GP victories and his second
place in Jermuk. Since nobody else can catch him – the best three
of four tournaments are used – the final Grand Prix, still to be
announced, will not change the status of the winner. Rules, points
and tables.

FIDE Grand Prix standings The FIDE Grand Prix is a series of six
tournaments held over two years (2008-2009). A total of 21 top world
players were selected to compete in these events. Each player had to
agree to participate in exactly four of the six tournaments. They
could rank their preference of the locations and times, but FIDE
had the right to assign players to tournaments according to the
organizational needs.

Each tournament has 14 participants playing over a schedule of
seventeen days. The months allocated for the organisation of the Grand
Prix tournaments are April, August and December of each respective
year. These months have been selected to ensure there is no conflict
with any other major event.

Qualifiers for the Grand Prix 2008-2009 The players who qualify
for selection to play in the Grand Prix are chosen on the following
prioritized basis:

Matches – For the first cycle of 2008/9, all players in the World
Championship (i.e. Kramnik or Anand) and Challenger matches (Topalov
or the World Cup 2007 winner) were invited to participate in the
Grand Prix from the outset.

Qualification – The FIDE World Cup in Khanty Mansiysk 2007 was used to
determine three qualifiers for the 2008/9 Grand Prix Series. Excluding
the winner, these will be the players who have qualified to the semi
final stages of the World Cup.

Rating – Based on an average calculation to two decimal places, of
the January 2007 rating list and the October 2007 rating list in the
year prior to start of the cycle, seven qualifiers were selected.

President nominees – The FIDE President may nominate one player,
who must be rated among the top 40 players in the world as per the
October 2007 rating list. Players nominated by the President should
be from different countries.

Host city nominees – One players may be nominated by each host city
and must be rated not less than 2550 in the last rating list prior
to the final nomination or selection of players. If the host city
does not have a player rated at least 2550 then the highest rated
player from the Federation of the host city will be invited to play,
subject to his rating not being lower than 2500.

Tournament format Each Grand Prix tournament is a 14-player round robin
tournament of 13 rounds. Time control: 120 minutes for the first forty
moves, 60 minutes for the next twenty moves and then 15 minutes and
an increment of 30 seconds per move from move 61 onwards. The players
are not allowed to offer draws directly to their opponents. Any draw
claim will be permitted only through the Chief Arbiter.

Prize money and Grand Prix points The recommended prize money which is
offered by host city organisers for each tournament is 212,000 Euros
and is split 162,000 Euros as direct prize money for the tournament
and 50,000 Euros towards an accumulated prize fund for the players
at the end of the series.

In the case of any tie in any tournament, the Grand Prix ranking points
and prize money are split equally. The overall winner of the Grand
Prix will be the one who will score the most number of cumulative
points. The cumulative score will be calculated from the best three
results for each player. The two top winners of the Grand Prix qualify
to the Candidates Stage of the World Championship cycle 2009-2011.

The winner and the runner up of the Grand Prix series at the end
of 2009 will qualify for the Candidates (eight players, matches,
etc.) to be held in the third quarter of 2010. Should the overall
winner of the Grand Prix also be the World Champion at the end of the
Grand Prix series in 2009, then the Challenger rights will go to the
second placed overall in the Grand Prix. Should the second placed
player in the Grand Prix also be the winner of the World Cup 2009,
then the Challenger rights emanating from the Grand Prix will go to
the third placed overall in the Grand Prix series.

EXPERT: FOOD SUPPLY AND SOCIAL SECURITY URGENT ISSUES IN ARMENIA

ARKA
Aug 25, 2009

YEREVAN, August 24. /ARKA/. Food supply security of Armenia is one
of most urgent issues to be addressed by the government, Advisor to
Armenian Parliament Speaker Tatul Manaseryan said while commenting
the impact of the world economic crisis on Armenia.

About 5-6 international programs on food security are implemented or
are still under implementation in Armenia, Manaseryan said. But the
loan government funds are aimlessly spent due to lack of coordination,
he said.

For more efficient implementation coordinated cooperation needs to
be established between the government agencies, the ministries of
economy, health and agriculture in particular, Manaseryan said.

According to the economist, social security is another topical issue
in the country as labor market needs to be seriously reviewed and
professional capital lacks coordination.

Employment problem is the first among other numerous social risks in
Armenia, Manaseryan said.

"Human resource in Armenia is one of the most valuable and important,
yet little-studied resources," the expert said. A higher education
diploma hardly guarantees a job in the specialization area, Manaseryan
said.

"As a professor I deliver lectures to the unemployed in future,"
the expert said.

Manaseryan stressed the necessity of government-paid vacancies in the
country’s higher schools to avoid aimless use of government funds and
further unemployment. The statistical information about actual demand
for a particular field should be taken into account for this, he said.

According to the official information of the State Employment Service,
total number of people seeking jobs was 101,100 in Armenia as of August
as compared with 92,100 jobless in the same period of the year before.

The unemployed constituted 83.8% (84,700) of overall number of job
seekers, a 10.8% increase against the same period of last year and
11.8% increase as compared with the beginning of the year.

ARMENIA SEEKS ANTI-CRISIS FUNDS FROM RUSSIA-LED INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION

Mediamax
Aug 24 2009
Armenia

Yerevan, 24 August. Armenia intends to attract means from EurAsEc
[Russia-led economic cooperation organization] anti-crisis fund to
fund industry, infrastructures and information technologies.

Deputy Minister of Finance of Armenia Vardan Aramyan, who heads
the workgroup on attracting funding from EurAsEc anti-crisis fund,
informed Mediamax on this.

According to Vardan Aramyan, the workgroup carries out works with all
sectoral departments and ministries of Armenia aiming at elaborating
detailed programs, which will be presented to the fund this fall.

The volume of EurAsEc anti-crisis fund will make about 10bn
dollars. The deputy minister of finance did not specify what exact
volume of funding Armenia intends to attract.

Mediamax reminds that on July 2, Armenian Prime Minister Tigran
Sargsyan informed that the government had already submitted two
applications to the fund, related to the spheres of energy and
chemistry, at that noting the necessity to elaborate new programs
aiming at attracting funding for spheres of importance for Armenia.

EXPERT SAYS DISAGREEMENTS RULE IN TURKISH STATE ADMINISTRATION

Panorama.am
17:50 24/08/2009

"Any element, having close connection with the settlement of
Armenian-Turkish ties, is of great significance.

Problems related to Turkey are being much discussed in Armenia and
Armenian issues in Turkey," political expert Alexander Iskandaryan
told at news conference.

People in Armenia, some political forces, parties are against
the opening of Armenian-Turkish border, but some are pro, expert
said. "Similar situation rules in Turkey, with a single difference that
politicians in state administration are also against that process,"
expert said.

Everybody in Armenian state administration is pro to the opening
of the border. That kind of disagreements make Turkey’s deal even
more difficult.

FEDERAL APPEALS COURT STRIKES DOWN ARMENIAN GENOCIDE INSURANCE CLAIMS LAW
by Lou Ann Matossian

08-21-federal-appeals-court-strikes-down-armenian- genocide-insurance-claims-law
Friday August 21, 2009

Minneapolis – On August 20, the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of
Appeals struck down a California law that allowed the descendants
of Armenian Genocide victims to sue in state courts for unpaid
insurance benefits. The federal court ruled that the California law
was unconstitutional because it conflicts with what it characterized
as U.S. foreign policy not to recognize the Armenian Genocide as such.

"The federal government has made a conscious decision not to apply
the politically charged label of ‘genocide’ to the deaths of these
Armenians during World War I," wrote Judge David Thompson for the
majority of the three-judge panel. "Whether or not California agrees
with this decision, it may not contradict it."

In dissent, Judge Harry Pregerson said that although the federal
government declines to use the term "Armenian Genocide," he could
find no evidence that the states were barred from doing so.

"There is no express federal policy forbidding California from
using the term ‘Armenian Genocide’ in the course of exercising its
traditional authority to regulate the insurance industry," Judge
Pregerson wrote.

"I think the decision is outrageous," said plaintiffs’ attorney Brian
Kabateck, who vowed to appeal for a rehearing. "If taken to its logical
extension, what this decision means is that all 40 states that have
recognized the Armenian Genocide have to set aside that recognition,"
he told the Los Angeles Times.

Armenian government postpones the date for construction of Meghri hydro
power plant

YEREVAN, August 21, /ARKA/. Citing the political situation in Iran the
Armenian government has decided at its regular session today to
postpone the date for construction of a hydro power plant near the town
of Meghri, on the River of Arax, separating Armenia from Iran.

Armenia and Iran had agreed to build two power plants on the Arax River
which are supposed to become the most powerful hydro power plants in
the South Caucasus. On the Armenian side the plant will be near the
town of Meghri and on the Iranian side near the town of Karachilar.
Each will have the capacity to produce 800 million KWh of power
annually.

Armenian Energy Minister Armen Movsisyan said today the decision was
forced because the administration of Iranian president Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad, following the latest presidential election, has not yet
formed a new government.

The minister said the deadline for selecting an investment company,
signing a relevant contract with it, as well as allocation of a land
plot for the future plant, that were originally scheduled for the third
quarter of 2009, will be extended into the fourth quarter. The license
will be granted to the power plant in 2010.

Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan suggested that a protocol be passed in
addition to the decision to ensure the financial stability of the power
grid sector.

0We need to pass the protocol to not allow rise of electricity price
for end consumers and besides, it is necessary to cover financial gaps
in the sector at the expense of government-run power plants in Vorotan,
Yerevan and the nuclear power plant,’ he said.-0-

Hollywood to host 12th Annual Arpa International Film Festival
22.08.2009 11:59 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Arpa foundation will be hosting the 12th annual Arpa
International Film Festival Friday, October 23, to Sunday, October 25,
at the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood. The festival program includes
the U.S. premier of Haik Gazarian’s Venezzia, starring two of Latin
America’s great stars, Alfonso Herrera and Ruddy Rodriguez.
More than 50 feature films, shorts, documentaries, music videos, and
animations will be screened during the festival, including films from
Armenia, Turkey, France, Iran, Spain, Lebanon, England, Israel,
Palestine, and Germany. Festival attendants will also have the
opportunity to watch Alex Web’s `Hove’, starring Olympia Dukakis.

Frank Pallone: U.S. should recognize Nagorno Karabakh
22.08.2009 15:23 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ I believe personally that the United States should
recognize Nagorno Karabakh, Frank Pallone Jr., the New Jersey Democrat
who is a founding co-chair of the Congressional Caucus on Armenian
Issues, said. `I certainly would be willing to do whatever I can to
have that happen,’ he said
However, according to him, it will be difficult, because a lot of
members of Congress are not that familiar with the subject. `I assume
that the State Department would be against it, and I am not sure how
much Armenia itself would be pushing for it. So it would probably be
hard to do,’ Frank Pallone said.
`And while I support recognition of NKR, I do not know if the Armenian
community wants to prioritize that. The community has to prioritize
the issues and spend their time on things that are more likely (to be
successfully accomplished)]. And since this issue would be difficult,
I would not recommend that they prioritize it, `congressman saidin an
interview to Armenian reporter.