Author: Jagharian Tania

MOSCOW DELEGATION SEEKS TO RECRUIT ARMENIAN WORKERS

RIA Novosti
May 21 2008
Russia

MOSCOW, May 21 (RIA Novosti) – A delegation from Moscow will arrive
in Armenia for a six-day visit on Thursday to encourage Armenians
to work in the Russian capital as part of a pilot project to boost
Russia’s migrant workforce.

Last April Russia toughened its migration policy, banning migrants
from working in retail markets. According to various estimates,
around 20,000 non-Russians were employed in Moscow markets alone
prior to the ban.

"If we do not switch to organized labor recruitment on the territories
of the donor countries, the labor market in Moscow will continue to
be spontaneous and poorly regulated," said Olga Veldina, a spokeswoman
for the Moscow committee for interregional links and national policy.

The Moscow city government has launched similar projects to attract
foreign workers from Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, mainly in construction,
while another Central Asian country, Uzbekistan is prepared to
follow suit.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia, particularly Moscow,
saw a strong inflow of migrant workers. Many of them stayed in the
country illegally because official registration processes are too
complicated and time-consuming.

Nearly 1 million foreign workers were officially registered in Moscow
in 2007 with a total population of 10.4 million.

RA PM TO ATTEND CIS HEADS OF GOVERNMENT MEETING IN MINSK

PanARMENIAN.Net
20.05.2008 14:02 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Armenia’s Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan will depart
for Minsk to attend a meeting of the CIS heads of government. The
composition of the delegation will be known tomorrow, the RA
government’s press office told PanARMENIAN.Net.

The meeting is due in the Belarusian capital on May 23.

VivaCell, UNICEF joint project improves education environment for
children with special needs

2008-05-16 16:14:00

ArmInfo. UNICEF and VivaCell, a subsidiary of Mobile TeleSystems OJSC
(NYSE: MBT) announced today that thanks to their joint initiative,
access to quality education for more than 200 Armenian children with
special needs will become much easier.

Over 36 million drams donated by VivaCell to UNICEF in 2007 were spent
on establishing and furnishing resource rooms in eight inclusive
schools in Yerevan and Tavoush province as well as on the purchase and
outfitting of three specially equipped minibuses that will be provided
to three community centers offering transportation services to children
with special needs in Tavoush.

"The partnership between VivaCell and UNICEF vividly demonstrates how
public and private sectors can work hand in hand for the benefit of
children. I welcome this joint initiative that creates opportunities
for children with special needs to exercise their right to education,"
Bagrat Yesayan, Deputy Minister of Education and Science said during
the ceremony of handover of minibuses and resource rooms held today at
the inclusive school No.180 in Avan community of Yerevan.

"This joint initiative will help ensure that children with special
needs have full access to quality education in eight inclusive schools,
and will enable community centres to provide outreach services to other
children with special needs," UNICEF Representative in Armenia Sheldon
Yett said. "Too many children with disabilities are unnecessarily
prevented from going to school, while others are consigned to
environments that discourage real learning – environments that are
unhealthy, unsafe, ineffective, and unfriendly," the UNICEF
Representative added.

"We have often been considered as doing philanthropy. However, what
VivaCell is doing is a clear responsibility toward the country in which
our Company operates and toward the children of Armenia. By this act of
social responsibility, VivaCell will help children with special needs
to get quality education. With special vehicles and resource rooms it
will be much easier for them to achieve this. VivaCell recruits
individuals with disabilities and invites other enterprises operating
in Armenia to do the same," said Ralph Yirikian, the General Manager of
VivaCell.

Under the project each of the eight selected inclusive schools was
equipped with a resource room where children, with the support from
specially trained teachers, will engage in various developmental
activities. Resource rooms will also serve as a place of convergence
for parents of children with special needs where they will be able to
receive information and guidance from professionals.

Through the project, over 100 teachers from the eight schools were also
provided training to improve their knowledge and skills on
methodologies of working with children with special needs.

According to the Ministry of Labour and Social Issues, there are
approximately 8,500 children with disabilities living in the Republic
of Armenia. Although the country has 14 inclusive schools and 5
UNICEF-supported community centres that cater for the needs of 1,500
children with disabilities, many of these children remain isolated from
the society and deprived from basic education.

Inclusive education ensures the right to education for children with
special needs and provides them with opportunities to develop their
social skills and become productive and full-fledged members of their
community and the society now and in the future.

Since 2001 UNICEF has been supporting projects on inclusive education
which demonstrate that most children with special needs can, with
motivation and effort from teachers, school administrators and students
themselves, thrive in a mainstream environment.

UNICEF established its presence in Armenia in 1994. UNICEF is mandated
by the United Nations General Assembly to advocate for the protection
of children’s rights, to help meet their basic needs and to expand
their opportunities to meet their full potential.

VivaCell (K-Telecom CJSC) is the leading Armenian mobile operator,
providing a wide range of Voice and Data services. Since its launch on
1st July 2005, in a short period of time VivaCell has managed to build
a nationwide network and a considerable customer base. VivaCell drives
the development and offering of innovative mobile communications
products, services and features in the Armenian mobile communications
market. For more information, visit

Mobile TeleSystems OJSC ("MTS") is the largest mobile phone operator in
Russia and the CIS. Together with its subsidiaries, the Company
services over 84.95 million subscribers. The regions of Russia, as well
as Armenia, Belarus, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan, in which
MTS and its associates and subsidiaries are licensed to provide GSM
services, have a total population of more than 230 million. Since June
2000, MTS’ Level 3 ADRs have been listed on the New York Stock Exchange
(ticker symbol MBT).

TURK TOURISTS, WHO VISITED ARMENIA, RETURN TO TURKEY UNDER GREAT IMPRESSION

Noyan Tapan

Ma y 13, 2008

ANKARA, MAY 13, NOYAN TAPAN. The Turk tourists, who visited Armenia
a few days ago, have returned to Turkey under a great impression.

As the Turkish sources report, 29 Turks and one German took part in
the journey with famous Turk excursion guide Faruk Pekin at the head
organized by the Fest Tourizm agency and they were all very pleased
with the journey made to Armenia.

Murad Ismail, the representative of the Fest Travel agency, mentioned
that it is the first time that such a tourist journey has been
organized and stressed that the tourists were greatly impressed by
the historical monuments of Armenia.

"We were very well welcomed. Everybody was very kind," he said.

And Faruk Pekin mentioned in his turn that the most negative thing
during the journey was "the problem of lavatories" as those situated
on roads between cities have turned into ruins.

The Turk tourists in Armenia visited the monasteries of Haghpat and
Sanahin, Matenadaran (Armenian repository of ancient manuscripts),
the Blue mosque, the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin and other places.

The Turkish press writes that the group of the Turk tourists visits
Armenia when efforts directed at the establishment of diplomatic
relations are continuing between the parties.

7273 STUDENTS AT 8 UNIVERSITIES

KarabakhOpen
14-05-2008 10:49:58

In 2007-2008 1310 students study at 4 vocational colleges and 7273
at 8 universities. In 2007 there were 27 nursery schools where 1531
children attended. There are 238 secondary schools where 4479 teachers
teach 27,371 children.

In 2007-2008 the average number of students in each class is 9. In
towns this rate is 18, in villages 6.

There are also 10 music schools, and schools of art where 1570 people
attend, the NKR National Statistics Service reports.

Panorama.am

17:49 09/05/2008
INFORMATIVE WAR

The informative war formed among the opposed sides
parallel to Karabakh war as important as the war
itself. The collective materials about Artsakh war
time between Armenia and Azerbaijan in 1987-1994 are
placed in web site. All the
publications of the war time are available in the
current site.

Source: Panorama.am

SERGE SARGSIAN: MAY 9 HAS BECOME DOUBLE SYMBOL FOR US

YEREVAN, MAY 10, NOYAN TAPAN. The Armenian president Serge Sargsian
sent a congratulatory message to the war veterans on the occasion of
Victory and Peace Day. The message, which was submitted to NT by the RA
president’s press service, reads:

"Dear veterans,

Dear compatriots,

I congratulate you on Victory and Peace Day.

The victorious end of the Great Patriotic war was an event of
exceptional importance in the life of our people as well. The Armenians
played a considerable role in this victory by their involvement in the
armies of the allies, in the resistance movements and especially in the
Soviet army. The peace was achieved at the cost of enormous sacrifices
and opened new prospects for our people not only to heal the wounds but
also to develop our country. Today’s Armenia is the continuation of the
republic which was rescued and prospered thanks to the feats of those
who achieved this victory.

Since 1992, May 9 has become a double symbol for us. By liberating
Shoushi, the new generation proved that it is a worthy successor of the
heroic past of its ancestors. Shoushi has become a symbol of Armenians’
love of freedom, inflexible will-power and their ability to overcome
ordeals with honor.

On this holiday we remember with pride all those who died for
Fatherland. The memory of our heroes will live on.

Congratulating you on the occasion of this double holiday, I wish all
of us a peaceful sky and deeds worthy of our historical victories".

Galust Sahakyan: Levon Ter-Petrosyan had a certain task but he did not
manage to fulfill it fully and now he will leave the political field

2008-05-08 16:03:00

ArmInfo. Deputy Chairman of the RPA Galust Sahakyan assessed Levon
Ter-Petrosyan’s speech at the second Congress of Armenian pan-national
movement as a "step-back", he said at the press-conference in Pastarq
club.

He also added that "step-back" is when a person takes a part of blame.
Sahakyan thinks that in future the opposition will start new actions as
an artificial protest cannot last long. He also said that Ter-Petrosyan
is going to leave. ‘Levon Ter-Petrosyan had a certain task but he did
not manage to fulfill it fully and now he will leave the political
field’, – he said and added that at the moment strategy of the first
president has changed.

RA FM meet CE Commissioner for human rights and Chairman of European
court for human rights

2008-05-08 16:00:00

ArmInfo. RA Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandyan met CE Commissioner for
human rights Tomas Hammerberg and Chairman of the European Court for
Human Rights Jean-Paul Costa in trasbourg yesterday.

As RA FM press service reports, during the meeting with T. Hammerberg,
E. Nalbandyan noted, with satisfaction, the level of cooperation with
CE Commissioner for human rights. The minister said that RA government
attentively treats the proposals made upon the results of his visit to
Armenia on March 14-16. The minister said about creation of a working
group for fulfillment of proposals contained in PACE Resolution 1609.
During the meeting with Chairman if the European Court, RA FM confirmed
Armenia’s readiness for deepening of the cooperation.

EXHIBITION DEDICATED TO 60th ANNIVERSARY OF RA HONORED PAINTER VALMAR
OPENS AT NATIONAL GALLERY OF ARMENIA

YEREVAN, MAY 8, NOYAN TAPAN. An exhibition dedicated to the 60th
anniversary of RA honored painter Valmar (Vladimir Margarian) opened on
May 2 at the National Gallery of Armenia, where more than 80 works by
the painter were presented.

RA Prime Minister Tigran Sargsian, Minister of Culture Hasmik
Poghosian, other high-ranking officials, as well as fans of Valmar’s
art were present at the official opening of the exhibition.

Congratulating the painter on the occasion of his jubilee, RA Minister
of Culture awarded Valmar Ministry’s gold medal.

T. Sargsian said that the RA government will undertake steps for
Armenia to become a cultural center in the region. "I think Valmar will
be the soldier of culture, who will prove with his biography that we
have realistic ambitions. I am sure that we will be able to become a
cultural center with Valmar and many talented artists like him," the
Prime Minister said. At the same time he said that to make Armenia a
cultural center we should first of all change society’s attitude to
art, as well as create all possible conditions for artists.

As art critic Saro Sarukhanian evaluated, Valmar is one of the unique
artists, thanks to whose creations the Armenian people became known in
different countries of the world. And, according to him, it is not
accidental that Valmar is considered a painter of Great Armenian World.
According to S. Sarukhanian, with his obstinacy and devotion Valmar was
able to overcome many difficulties and today he is considered one of
the most renowned painters in the world.

"The art loving society in my canvases is able to find and appreciate
everything, which is close to it and seems unique. I try to speak with
people through my paintings, which proceed just from my heart and
essence," Valmar said.