Author: Emil Lazarian

CATHOLICOS KAREKIN II: ARMENIAN DIASPORA’S DREAM BECOMES REALITY
REGNUM
September 19, 2006
“After 15 years, time has come to serve people, uniting forces of
Armenia and Diaspora. It is our ultimate goal, it is exactly here
that our nation’s prosperity source is,” the Catholicos Karekin II
is quoted by REGNUM correspondent to state on Sep 18 at the third
Armenia-Diaspora Forum’s opening ceremony.
“Armenian people should use its state government and Diaspora to keep
pace with economic development.
Besides, to strengthen spiritual values, it is necessary to build
new churches and schools. Armenia today faces numerous challenges,”
he stressed. Karekin II also emphasized the importance of programs
aimed at rural areas’ developing, considering it to be an important
element of the country’s social-economic development. Concluding,
the Catholicos reminded that Armenian Diaspora has been dreaming of
returning home for centuries; now, every opportunity is available to
realize the dream.
Catholicos of Cilicia Aram I noted that Diaspora’s participation
in Armenia’s life should not be restricted to economic
donations. According to him, Armenia’s main problems are the
issue of recognition of Armenian Genocide in Ottoman Turkey and
recognition of Nagorno Karabakh Republic independence – “Diaspora’s
participation in these programs will provide them with all-Armenian
understanding.” “This cooperation should be based on supreme
values. The building of Armenian nation should stand on a stable
foundation that should be built by us – the whole Armenianhood,”
Aram I stated.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

RUSSIA SAYS 2006 PLAN ON GEORGIA PULLOUT ALMOST COMPLETE
RIA Novosti, Russia
19:16 | 18/ 09/ 2006
TBILISI, September 18 (RIA Novosti) – Russia’s military said Monday
its plans for 2006 on withdrawing military hardware from bases in
Georgia will be completed Tuesday.
Under an agreement Russia and Georgia signed March 31, Russian troops
and hardware are to leave two Soviet-era bases in the southern city of
Akhalkalaki and Batumi in the west of Georgia by 2008. The withdrawal
is being monitored by a joint Georgian-Russian commission set up
under the March agreement.
“The 2006 plan for the withdrawal of Russian bases from Georgia can
be considered 100% implemented,” said Major General Andrei Popov,
commander of Russian troops in South Caucasus. “All the equipment
taken out from Georgia has been delivered to military units in Russia
and Armenia, and the last train loaded with equipment will leave the
Tsalka railroad station on September 19.”
Popov said after September 19, the 62nd base in Akhalkalaki, which
the Tsalka station services, will house only vehicles needed for the
base’s functioning until late 2007.
He gave credit to the authorities of Azerbaijan, whose relations with
neighboring Armenia have been tense since the collapse of the Soviet
Union, for allowing the transit of military cargo through the country.
“The withdrawal procedure was simplified after Azerbaijan allowed
transit through its territory, and we have worked in close contact
with the country’s railroad workers, border guards and the military.”
He said there had been no delays in or obstacles to the plan’s
implementation.
But he said it was only the first stage of the withdrawal, which will
continue until 2008. “I hope such issues as food support, movement of
vehicles about Georgia and mail deliveries will be solved as quickly
as issues related to the withdrawal.”
Popov said shipments of military equipment in 2007 would be similar
to this year’s. “A total of 400 cars with equipment have been sent to
Russia through Azerbaijan in 2006, and shipments will be approximately
the same in 2007.”
He said military hardware was to be withdrawn from the military base in
Batumi in 2007, and the base in Akhalkalaki must be closed by December
1, 2007. The staff of the 62nd base in Akhalkalaki would be transferred
to the 12th base in Batumi. “Georgia prohibits the deployment of new
servicemen, and the base in Batumi is 30% undermanned, which is why
we made the decision,” Popov said.
He said the situation in Batumi would be completely different from
that in Akhalkalaki because Georgian police had toughened requirements
for the movement of military vehicles.
“Batumi is a resort, and we hope issues on and the deadline for the
pullout from the Batumi base will be coordinated with the Georgian
side in advance in order to avoid incidents during the tourist season,
which usually starts in July,” Popov said.
The Russian government has earmarked 2.167 billion rubles ($81 million)
for the pullout from the bases.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

VIRABYANS WERE ARRESTED
A1+
[07:28 pm] 18 September, 2006
Two people have been arrested in connection with the September 6
murder of Shahen Hovasapyan, Head of the Operative Investigation
Department of the State Tax Service.
According to the statement made by the RA Public Prosecutor’s Office,
brothers Armen and Gourgen Virabyans have been arrested and are
presently kept in prison.
Let us remind you that Armen Virabyan is an official of the State
Tax Service.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

TCA VICE-CHAIRMAN EDMOND AZADIAN’S SPEECH AT ARMENIA-DIASPORA CONFERENCE
AZG Armenian Daily
19/09/2006
The third Armenia-Diaspora Conference is geared to break new ground
toward uniting the two segments of the Armenian people, because without
cooperation and interaction between the two, the rejuvenation of our
historic homeland will be nearly impossible.
Some people who entertain unrealistic expectations from these
convocations return with a degree of skepticism, displeased
with finding no instant results, with the exception of making new
acquaintances. But that very acquaintance is the first step towards
the anticipated progress, because, even after 15 years of independence,
the diaspora does not fully recognize Armenia – and vice-versa.
Moving a step further, Armenia and the diaspora have yet to come
together to assess the full significance of the challenges we face
as a nation.
The main theme of this conference is the development of rural areas in
Armenia. The bright and bustling Yerevan does not provide an accurate
overall gauge of the economic development of the country. There is a
stark contrast between Yerevan’s construction boom and the desolation
of rural Armenia.
We should also be mindful that commerce and tourism alone are not
enough to build a country’s future. A healthy and comprehensive
economy can only be based on the proper harnessing of the natural
resources as well as increasing the educational level of the country,
both of which will eventually yield increases in exports.
Political factors play a role in resolving our problems, yet some of
those factors are beyond our control. What remains within our reach
is achieving unity between different segments of our people so that
we may put their potentials into prudent use.
These conferences are significant in achieving precisely that sort
of coming together. Early in the 20th century, our first independent
republic barely survived for 2-2.5 years. Admittedly, political
and historical conditions were very challenging and we could not
expect more under the circumstances. Having said that, the current
regional and political conditions are no less challenging, yet our
current republic already has a 15-year history. Therefore, somewhere,
something has worked properly. Not only that, but our thousand-year-old
losing streak seems to have been reversed and a piece of our historic
homeland in Karabagh has been liberated from Azeri tyranny.
These developments merit historic evaluations.
The Armenian people won – through independence – the freedom of speech,
conscience and thought. But we need to question how wisely we use these
freedoms. Freedom of conscience is being abused by foreign quarters
who unleash there religious sects which undermine the foundations
of our Armenian Apostolic Church, one of the essential components of
our national identity.
The area of freedom of the press is nothing to cheer about. Yellow
journalism there has reaped more success than the variety practiced
by responsible journalists seeking news and offering constructive
criticism.
The onslaught of irresponsible, unwarranted and libelous attacks is
upon us, trampling and distorting the truth. The fallout from that
onslaught also reaches the diasporan shores to cover the pages of
some of the traditional press. This distractive campaign robs people
of any future hope, forcing the depopulation of the homeland. And
on the diaspora front, that press misguides people, thereby denying
their support to – and their investments – in Armenia.
Does this mean that we should not criticize the authorities in Armenia
for their abuses, plundering and general deficiencies? We certainly are
duty bound to criticize. But the boundaries of freedom of speech should
not be the law, but morality; because the law is the last refuge of the
rascal. On the other hand, the news media, which exercises objective
and conscientious criteria, can bring forth positive results. It
is not surprising, therefore, that annual fundraising telethons,
whose purpose is to unite our people and direct their resources
toward Armenia, fail, to a degree, to achieve their purported goals,
despite the fact that All Armenia Fund, which organizes those events,
is one of the few transparent and accountable entities that can be
proud of its achievements.
Indeed, a single diaspora benefactor alone can donate the total amount
of funds raise every year. This lackluster result may be attributed
mainly to the negative campaign conducted by the yellow journalists,
perhaps as well as some organizational failures.
We are at a stage where we need a distinct departure from the
traditional ways of supporting the homeland.
Yesterday’s orphan funds and charitable deeds are not enough for
nation building. Today, we need a different – and more comprehensive –
level of thinking to build a state.
Many diaspora organizations continue operating in the same old way,
often demanding accountability but not delivering much support in
return. However, it is heartwarming to see a new trend developing,
especially among individual benefactors, who rise above the negative
drumbeat of the press and positively focus on the needs of the country.
Indeed, the Lincy Foundation, the Cafesjian Family Foundation, the
Tufenkjians, Louise Manoogian Simone, Ara Abrahamian and Charles
Aznavour, among others, sometimes individually, contribute more than
diaspora organizations collectively. They do not attach strings to
their munificence, as do some organizations and members of the press,
and they operate independently, certainly having confirmed reliability
on the side of the recipient, namely the government of Armenia.
Many Armenian organizations lend their support to the republic inspired
by patriotism and sometimes by ulterior motives, working at cross
purposes, but seldom in a coordinated fashion. I would even include
the organization I represent, the Tekeyan Cultural Association,
which sponsors schools, orphans education funds and many cultural
and literary projects in Armenia.
The division of our church plays a disheartening role too in our
endeavors to unite Armenians. Some people, who believe that ignorance
is bliss, dismiss the issue as if the problem could fade away simply
by being ignored. There have been instances in our history where, due
to political circumstances, one of the religious centers has grown
stronger than the Holy See at Etchmiadzin, but the center and the
symbol of unity have always resided at the Mother See in Vagharshabad.
Any attempt to degrade Etchmiadzin or compete with it is tantamount to
weakening our church and dividing our people. Similarly, the uncanny
games of substituting the idea of cooperation with the principle
of unity are neither constructive, nor will they lead to church
unity. Cooperation between our religious centers can restore the
unity of our church only if they are based on the ultimate principle
of unity. It is as unnatural to have a church body with two heads as
it is ridiculous to entertain ideas of having four heads, which may
render our church into a square wheel leading us nowhere.
Also, it was incompatible with the historic role of the Holy See of
Etchmiadzin for it to be excluded from the last draft of Armenia’s
constitution, through sheer short-term political expediency.
Another dividing factor, which some people would have loved to forget,
is the issue of a common orthography for the Armenian language, which
hopefully one fortunate day may also lead to the unity of the two
dialects. There are people who have been using this issue to pit the
diaspora against Armenia, without realizing that they may be adding
a new dimension to an already sad state of affairs.
On one hand, dodging the issue, and on the other hand, naively
believing that reversing the 1922 decree that changed the rules
of spelling in Armenia may solve the issue by a miracle, are not
conducive to a solution.
The only reasonable way to tackle the issue is to tame the emotions
and to refer the problem to a panel of scholars who will decide that
a change is necessary in principle, leaving the rest to the future
and to the conditions, which may evolve to help resolve the dispute.
In addition to the challenges of unified orthography and language,
we still face the challenge of a unified culture; Western Armenian
literature has an uneven and spare representation in Armenia’s
schools. Also we have yet to find the names of Tekeyan, Zohrab and
other classics in Yerevan streets or their likeness on the Armenian
dram, along Eastern Armenian classical icons.
The challenge of the republic’s economic development has led the
diaspora and Armenia to render patriotism into financial capital
and vice versa. Although these may sound as very positive wishes,
unfortunately they do not work in the real world and have no prospects.
Suffice it only to adopt laws based on international norms and
especially bring those laws out of the books and enforce them
rigorously to create an even playing field, allowing everyone to
invest – Armenian and non-Armenian business people alike.
There is residual resistance – a legacy of the Soviet mentality –
to close the gap which exists between the laws as they exist on the
books and their application.
This environment, already not conducive to healthy investment, is
further marred by the periodic unexplained political and factional
assassinations.
When such crimes go unpunished, the outside world is left to deduce
collusion or impotence; labels which are not complimentary to any
self-respecting country.
We are already at the threshold of a hot pre-election political
atmosphere. We are faced with the elections of the National Assembly
first, followed by the presidential election. Previous elections did
not meet international standards. The world has been changing and 15
years after independence, if we cannot hold transparent elections,
Armenia may compromise the resolution of its international problems.
With very rare exceptions, the political parties have an unstable
image. Switching principles and positions, changing political labels
at a whim, show political immaturity. Therefore, we should not be
surprised that the general public is apathetic and does not take part
in those maneuvers. Without the participation of the people we cannot
build a genuine democracy and keep pace with the rest of the world.
Dear friends. All these problems are the legacies of the past and they
are ripe for resolution. This conference is attempting to address
those issues, so that together we -Armenians within and without the
republic – may face new issues, which unfortunately challenge Armenia
and the Armenian people every day.
We cannot tackle all our problems with divided forces.
If we have to expect any results today, this conference has to afford
us the opportunity to rise above our selfish personal inhibitions
and factional interests, which have atrophied, so that we may face
the future with real and complete unity.

September 17, 2006
For immediate release
Anahid Yeremian
P.O. Box 655, Menlo Park, CA 94026
anahi [email protected]
650 – 926 – 4444
UN, NASA, European Space Agency Endorse Cosmic Ray Division’s SEVAN Network
In November 12005, UN, NASA, and the European Space Agency (ESA)
jointly organized a multinational meeting to promote international
cooperation in space research. A particular interest of the consortium
is to study energetic events on the sun and the effects of these
events on the Earth’s environment. Prof. Ashot Chilingarian, head
of the Cosmic Ray Division (CRD) represented Armenia and proposed
a multinational Space Environment Viewing and Analysis Network
(SEVAN). The proposal received very high marks and was one of the few
programs endorsed by the consortium for the International Heliophysical
Year 2007 (IHY-07).
The Cosmic Ray Division is among the world’s top 5 research
organizations in cosmic ray physics and space weather research. SEVAN,
a nine-country space weather network of ground based cosmic ray
particle detectors, will be led by the CRD physicists in Armenia
under the leadership of Professor Chilingarian. The network will
utilize advanced concepts, technology, data acquisition methods,
and computer analysis techniques developed at the CRD.
SEVAN will open windows to enhanced understanding of solar phenomena
that affect the earth and will promote international cooperation.
At a July 2006 meeting of the international Committee on Space
Research (COSPAR) in Beijing, Prof. Chilingarian represented Armenia
and promoted the SEVAN network. His reports were received with great
and tangible enthusiasm. Nat Gopalswamy of NASA and the international
coordinator IHY-07 mentioned SEVAN in his own presentation as one of
the most important projects of IHY-07. Meanwhile, the chairman of the
IHY-07 steering committee, Joseph Davila stated, “Space Weather issues
are becoming more and more important and the approach advocated by
CRD to deploy new type of particle detectors in near-equator countries
is very important”.
At home, CRD continues to attract smart and energetic students from
Yerevan State University. Artur Reimers, a third year PhD student
at the CRD won a $5000 grant from the Graduate Research Support
Program organized by Armenia’s National Foundation for Science and
Advanced Technology (NFSAT) and the Civilian Research Defense Fund
(CRDF) in the US. Tigran Karapetyan and Bagrat Mailyan are the two
new graduate students and Armen Hovhannisyan is a new upper class
undergraduate student from the Yerevan State University. All three
talented students have chosen to focus their studies on cosmic ray
physics at the Cosmic Ray Division and we are grateful to Mary Anna
Brown for supporting them with tuition and books.
Thanks also to the many Diaspora members for your continued support
of the CRD, this vital organization for Armenia’s strength and secure
future. We want to thank also several important organizations for
their continued support in various ways to facilitate/supplement
the Diaspora giving: Armenian Engineers and Scientists of America
national headquarters, Michigan, and Greater Metropolitan DC chapters;
United Armenian Fund; Nor Serount Cultural Organization; the Armenian
Heritage Cruise; and the National Foundation for Science and Advanced
Technology. Together we make a winning team!
For more information please visit
<;www.crdfri ends.org or write to the Support Committee for Armenia's Cosmic Ray Division at SCACRD, P.O. Box 655, Menlo Park, CA 94026. From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

THE SUCCESS OF “ADANA” IS SCOTLAND
A1+
[04:11 pm] 18 September, 2006
In the third match of the first qualifying phase of the UEFA cup
which took place in Scotland futzal champion of Armenia “Adana” beat
“Fair City” from Scotland 5:3 and topped the list of the third group
with 7 points.
In the next phase the champion of Armenia will play with “Sporting”
from Portugal, “Korzov” from Poland and “Alfa Parf” from Macedonia. The
games will take place on October 9-12 in Poland.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

THE VISIONARY DOCTOR
Express Healthcare Management, India
Issue dtd. September 2006
Dr Alok Roy, Vice President, Fortis’ Centre for Community Initiative,
has to his credit the record of building the maximum number of
hospitals in India. But his heart beats for rural healthcare. He
talks to Sapna Dogra about his life, profession and dreams.
Micro health insurance, telemedicine, HIV/AIDS and corporate social
responsibility are the four areas where the 48-year-old Dr Alok
Roy’s heart lies these days. According to him, weak forces drive the
world because strong forces are very few and they can’t bring in any
change. Therefore, it is important to empower the weak and healthcare
is an intrinsic part of the process. To change the lives of the people
in the hinterland, corporate hospitals won’t really help, says the
philosopher doctor. These four arenas can change the lives of the
people, which is more important than merely providing treatment,
professes Dr Roy.
A Born Leader
Born in 1958 in Allahabad, Dr Alok Roy had a normal middle-class
upbringing. He is the youngest of the five siblings (two brothers and
three sisters), but calls himself the mentor as they all listen to his
advice. His father had a transferable job in the Central Government,
which made the family traverse the entire length and breadth of the
country, including Delhi, Maharashtra (Mumbai) and Orissa. “I guess
this is the reason that I don’t feel I belong to one region or state
but I feel for the entire country,” states Dr Roy. However, he has
a soft corner for Kolkata because he spent eight important years of
his professional life there and built four hospitals.
Being the youngest in the family, naturally he was naughty and
mischievous, but he was a bright student.
He used to play cricket in school and college, and was a part of
NCC. He was a shooter. He also contested in college elections and
won. “I would take part in each and every competition both at school
and college level,” he remembers. Though no one in his family was a
medico, since childhood Roy nurtured the ambition of being doctor. The
reason was noble. He thought a doctor could have an impact on other
people’s lives besides being respected by all.
As a youngster he used to read avidly since there was no TV then. He
devoured classics by literary luminaries like Premchand, Tarachand
Bandopadhaya et al. “I think vernacular literature is very rich and I
had read all the classics in Hindi and Bangla while I was in school,”
divulges Roy. Currently, he is reading ‘Managing Without Power’
by R Meredith Belbin.
According to him, “It is an interesting book on gender, which says
anything weak will sustain in the long run.”
Beginning Of An Illustrious Career
After class 12, he sat for the medical entrance test and was seventh
in merit for SCB Medical College, Cuttack in 1976. At that time, his
father was posted in Cuttack. In 1983, he joined the AIIMS for PG in
nuclear medicine. After that he did one year DRM from Mumbai. What
made him choose nuclear cardiology? “It was a lesser-known field that
time and I loved challenges,” he reasons. Also, there were limited
options; he wanted to do something different.
He had opportunities to go abroad at that time. “AIIMS was producing
PGs to go to the US,” he says. But the patriot in him didn’t want to
leave India and he decided to stay back because there was so much to
do here.
On May 10, 1988, he got an offer to join BM Birla Heart Centre. “That
time there were not many private hospitals in the country except
for a few like Jaslok Hospital and Bombay Hospital and though I got
a job as Assistant Professor at SGPGI Lucknow, I decided to join
the private hospital, which was a very bold step those days,” he
reminisces. Everyone was against this decision, but his wife Kavita
supported him all the way through.
He helped set up the 140-bed BM Birla Heart Research Institute in
Kolkata in 1989. He also managed the institute for about eight years,
during which period more than 8,000 major heart operations were
performed there. In 1996, he joined Manipal Heart Foundation (MHF)
and was responsible for the turnkey management at MHF, a 200-bed heart
hospital project. “It had six operation theatres to perform 12-14
heart surgeries a day and three cardiac catheterisation laboratories.
The centre performed 6,000 major heart surgeries in a record period
of less than four years,” says Dr Roy.
In the year 2000, he set up the 130-bed Rabindranath Tagore
International Institute of Cardiac Sciences, Kolkata for the working
class families of West Bengal in association with the Government of
West Bengal. He has also been successful in setting up the world’s
largest 780-bed super speciality heart hospital, Narayana Hrudayalaya
in Bangalore. The first phase of this hospital with 280 beds was
commissioned in April 2001 and has already achieved a path-breaking
record of performing over 4,500 surgeries, over a period of 18
months. He also built Armenian Church Trauma Centre in 2004.
In 2005, Roy joined Fortis Hospital Noida as its CEO and under his
guidance, the hospital has earned a name for world-class facilities
and treatment at affordable rates. “I wanted Fortis to be more than
just a healthcare delivery centre, it should work beyond the realm
of health providers; hence we started telemedicine, micro-health
insurance activities and, health camps,” says the visionary doctor.
Re-engineering of hospitals is Roy’s passion.
Recently, Rahul Gandhi entrusted him with the responsibility of
revamping the 300-bed Sanjay Gandhi Hospital at Amethi in Uttar
Pradesh, which was built in 1984. It is a not-for-profit hospital
which Roy would turnaround so that it can carry out 5,000 OPDs per
month and 6,000 surgeries per month.
Even as he heads a corporate hospital, Dr Roy says, “Corporate
hospitals don’t have the reach nor have the inclination to work for
the people of the hinterland.
If I can create two-three hospitals to serve the rural people that
would really satisfy me.”
Dr Roy has been instrumental in conceptualising and implementing
Asia’s biggest telemedicine initiative, ‘Integrated Telemedicine &
Telehealth Project’ (ITTP).
This network not only covers the entire length and breadth of the
Indian subcontinent, but also extends to other countries like Mauritius
and Malaysia. “The seed of telemedicine was sowed when I used to go
for camps in rural places and found that there was an acute need for
strong communications,” he says.
“I was in Kolkata working with the Rabindranath Centre and there
I thought about telemedicine as a bridge between the rural health
centres to the main hospitals in the city, as putting up more hospital
beds and clinics is obviously not the answer,” he adds.
Telemedicine – doctors advising treatment over the video – will help
a general practitioner in a remote area to hook up with an expert
in a more advanced urban centre. The virtual clinic is the only way
out, he says. It is about taking knowledge to people who need it,
adds Roy. The idea is to create knowledge centres.
“Telemedicine has been made possible in the country by the
Government. The Central Government provides satellites connectivity
and State Governments give their hospitals. I feel that public-private
partnership can reform the existing healthcare scenario,” professes
Roy.
He further says there are two major problems in the country: that
is health is either inaccessible or unaffordable. For making it
accessible, Roy says telemedicine is the answer and for making it
affordable only micro-health insurance can help.
Influences In Life
Roy has been greatly influenced by Mother Teresa with whom he
interacted on a daily basis while in Kolkata.
Her compassion and worldly views had an indelible impression on
him. “She was an intelligent lady,” he says. The Father of the Nation
Mahatma Gandhi is his role model. “Here was a man who could have
anything he wanted but he chose to forsake everything,” Roy says
and adds that, “There was a streak of detachment in him that’s very
important for everyone to have if you want to do great things.”
His father, who is also his role model, was democratic in every way
and let his children decide and be whatever they wanted to be. “I
have learnt to be patient and non-judgmental from him,” informs Roy.
Achievements
In physical sense and material gainsterms, the hospitals he built
and the accolades he won could be called his achievements. However,
for Dr Roy it is the people who linked with him and gained from him
made him feel very proud and contented with their achievements. And
he had mentored many a protege in his illustrious career. “There’s an
indescribable pride I feel deep inside me upon seeing their success,”
he says. Incidentally, Dr Roy is the only person to have built 17
hospitals in the country.
Time Off
Roy loves to go to hill stations for vacations with family. He has two
sons; the elder one is studying medicine at Stanley Medical College,
Madras and the younger one is in class 11 in Delhi. His wife works for
spastics children. He says, “My soul is trapped in the hills.” Every
year, for two weeks or so, he goes for trekking in the hills.
He likes to listen to old Hindi songs, but falls asleep after hearing
the first line. He has such busy schedule that he can fall asleep
in a fraction of seconds. “I don’t watch movies and have no clue
about actors or actresses,” says he. Interestingly, he goes for a
morning walk every morning and walks 3.5 kilometers. He also enjoys
horse riding.
Ambitions
Since Roy loves the hills, he feels for the people of the hills and
dreams of building a small 50-bed hospital and training facility
for the people of Uttaranchal. He also harbours another ambition
of bringing skill enhancements into rural health practitioners like
other traditional practitioners and even quacks.
“They consist of a good 50 per cent of the healthcare providers
besides the Homeopathy, Ayurveda etc. And since we can’t wish them
away, it is better to tell them about good and bad practices so they
would be careful while dealing with patients like washing hands,
knowledge of medicines knowledge etc,” says Roy.
“Whenever I visit the hills the resolve gets stronger to do something
for them,” he says assiduously. He is working 24×7 and doesn’t get
tired because as he says, “No one gets a second chance in life so
live every moment to the fullest.” And if given a chance, he would
live the same life all over again.
[email protected]
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

THIRD ARMENIA-DIASPORA ALL-ARMENIAN FORUM OPENED IN YEREVAN
PanARMENIAN.Net
18.09.2006 13:59 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ September 18 the Third Armenia-Diaspora All-Armenian
Forum opened in Yerevan.
Political party and foreign Armenian lobbyist organizations
representatives, businessmen, public figures and scientists take part
in the forum. When opening the event Armenian FM Vartan Oskanian
wished success to the meeting participants. RA and NKR Presidents
R. Kocharian and A. Ghoukassian, Catholicos of All Armenians Garegin
II and Catholicos of Great House of Cilicia Aram I addressed the Forum.
Working out strategy of Armenia’s development in 21st century will
be a major issue on the forum agenda.
During a plenary session under the slogan New Responses to Old
Questions: Armenians in 21st Century theoretical approaches to culture
and self-consciousness elements, opportunities to use these both
in Armenia and the Diaspora will be discussed. Special attention
will be paid to development of rural areas, targeted assistance to
farmers. The forum will work till September 20.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ACHIEVEMENTS AND LOSSES ACCORDING TO KIRO MANOYAN
A1+
[03:30 pm] 18 September, 2006
“It is a great achievement to have 15 years’ independence for the
last 600 years. And if we have many problems today, we should blame
not the independence, but ourselves”, said, Kiro Manoyan, Executive
of the ARF Dashnaktsutiun Bureau Hay Dat and Political Office.
Mr. Manoyan is convinced that the nation can develop only if there
is a state. Referring to our path for the last 15 years, he said,
“We not only managed to be independent for 15 years, but we also
liberated Karabakh and created the strongest army of the region.
All this was achieved thanks to our unity”.
Mr. Manoyan found it noteworthy that if we have obligatory military
service, we must create an army which will contribute to the
development of the soldiers.
He said that the shortcomings can be overcome only in case there
are not hidden. “Armenia is the homeland of not those who live in
it but all the Armenians in the world. If we do not accept this,
we will continue to suffer losses. We cannot combat corruption,
emigration continues, and there is no justice in the country. All
this jeopardizes the security of the country.”
“I’m convinced that people emigrate as they have no other choice. The
majority has nothing, and the minority has everything at the expense
of the majority. People cannot stand injustice. Nothing will change
in the country if we fail to realize that we are the owners of the
country and everything depends on us”, Kiro Manoyan said.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

PACE RAPPORTEUR VISITS KARABAKH ONLY
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[04:01 pm] 18 September, 2006
Leo Platvoet, the PACE rapporteur on the issues of missing persons,
starts his regional visit today. The official will visit neither
Armenia, nor Azerbaijan.
On September 18-22 he will be in Nagorno Karabakh and in Abkhazia.
The visit takes place within the framework of the report “Missing
persons in Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia”. In Stepanakert and
Sukhumi the rapporteur will meet local officials who engage in the
clarification of the fates of missing persons.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress