Author: Kalantarian Kevo

ARMENIA WOMEN’S EDUCATION CLUB SCHOLARSHIP ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS

Watertown TAB & Press, MA
March 15 2013

WATERTOWN – The Armenian Women’s Educational Club is announcing four
$1,000 scholarships and is now accepting applications from high school
senior boys and girls entering a four-year college in the fall of 2013.

Applicants may be male or female, must be of Armenian descent and be
accepted at a four-year college or university for the current year.

They must be seniors at a greater Boston high school who are United
States citizens or hold a resident alien card. Winners of the $1000
scholarships will be selected on the basis of their academic record
and financial need.

Students may request scholarship application forms by calling Araxie
Manjikian at 781-937-0515. Applications are due by April 30, 2013,
and the scholarships will be awarded in June.

The Armenian Women’s Educational Club was founded some 75 years ago
for the purpose of providing scholarships to college students, first
in the Middle East and for the past 30 years in the United States.

Started by a group of Armenian immigrant women, who wanted to support
education, the Club has awarded over $100,000 in scholarships to
young people of Armenian heritage.

RISK IS INCLUSIVE: YOUNG ARMENIANS PORTRAY DISASTER RISK REDUCTION THROUGH FILM

UNICEF
March 15 2013

Risk is inclusive. Fourteen-year-old Margarita portrays a powerful
message about disability in a video about disaster risk reduction.

By Chris Schuepp

GYUMRI, Armenia, 14 March 2013 – Margarita Sargsyan, 14, and her
classmates at School #1 in Gyumri, the second biggest city of Armenia,
are taking part in school lessons that might save their lives. They
are learning about disaster risk reduction (DRR).

There are no natural disasters

Following the premise that there are no ‘natural’ disasters, only
natural hazards, DRR aims to reduce the damage caused by such natural
hazards as earthquakes, floods, droughts and cyclones through an
ethic of prevention.

DRR is a topic that resonates in the minds of the students, as Gyumri
was hit by a massive earthquake in 1988. Twenty-five years later,
one can still find remnants of the destruction. Older people talk
about how almost 25,000 people lost their lives and tens of thousands
of people were injured and lost their homes.

Last week, Margarita was one of 15 youths who took part in a UNICEF
OneMinutesJr. video workshop on disaster risk education, supported by
the European Union humanitarian aid department (ECHO). The children
developed story ideas on how best to prepare when facing some of
the natural hazards in the area. They then filmed their stories and
produced 60-second videos.

Films produced during the five-day workshop were shown at an
international meeting in Istanbul, Turkey, last month. Eight countries
in the South Caucasus and Central Asia shared experiences on disaster
risk reduction programming through the education sector, supported
by the European Union and UNICEF.

‘Don’t leave me behind’

Child-led activities are central to helping school preparedness and
community engagement. It is critical that all children, including
girls and children with disabilities, who may be hidden at home or
in institutions, be more involved in their communities.

The film Margarita prepared at the workshop, Don’t Leave Me Behind,
takes place in the classroom. It is about an earthquake. In the film,
Margarita starts crying when all the other children have run away,
but then two boys come back into the classroom to get her out.

Margarita uses a wheelchair. Until a year ago, her only option to
get a basic education was to go to a daycare centre for children
with disabilities. Last year, she made a presentation at the TEDxKids
conference in Yerevan and received support from UNICEF to enable her
to attend the new inclusive school in Gyumri. She has attended School
#1 since September.

According to her teacher Noyemzar Khachatryan, she has been welcomed
by a “warm atmosphere” in the school and by her peers.

Disaster risk education is woven into geography and other subjects
Margarita studies.

Serious about inclusive education

The Government of Armenia introduced inclusive education law in 2005
with support from UNICEF. Today, there are more than 100 inclusive
schools in Armenia.

Margarita still likes to visit the daycare centre to see her friends.

She recently went back to spread the word about her video workshop
and about DRR.

The Armenian parliament is currently discussing amendments to the
education law, whereby all schools in Armenia will become inclusive.

All children, including children with disabilities, will be able to
learn to prepare for the future and gain knowledge to save their lives.

RAFFI HOVANNISIAN’S SUPPORTERS TO SET UP FUND TO RAISE MONEY FOR HIM TO CONTINUE FIGHT FOR DEMOCRACY

YEREVAN, March 15. / ARKA /. Supporters of Heritage Party leader
Raffi Hovhannisyan intend to set up a fund to finance his struggle
for democratic Armenia.

On March 14, Armenia’s Constitutional Court rejected the claims of
Raffi Hovannisian and another former presidential candidate Andrias
Ghukasyan that the February 18 presidential election was rigged in
favor of incumbent president Serzh Sargsyan.

Hovannisian and Ghukasyan had asked the Court to reject the election
results, but the Court denied their claims, upholding the Central
Election Commission’s (CEC) final assessment that there had not been
major violations affecting the final outcome of the poll.

According to the CEC, Sargsyan secured 58.64 percent of the 1,521,261
votes cast, while , Raffi Hovannisian garnered 36.75 percent of
the votes.

“I think it is going to be a powerful wave, a move that will help
collect funds to continue the fight,” a member of Heritage Party,
Anahit Bakhshyan, told a rally in Liberty Square today. She said
soon a bank account will be announced for all those who support
Hovannisian’s struggle to transfer funds.

On March 10, Hovannisian began a hunger strike, telling his supporters
‘If on April 9 Mr. Sargsyan takes the false oath of office on the
Holy Bible and the constitution and if His Holiness Catholicos Karekin
II thus desecrates the Bible by blessing a candidate who derides the
people, they will do that on my corpse.” -0-

CHIEF OF CSTO JOINT STAFF ARRIVES IN ARMENIA

NEWS.AM
March 15, 2013 | 19:12

YEREVAN. – A delegation headed by Lieutenant General Alexander
Studenikin, Chief of Joint Staff of the Collective Security Treaty
Organization (CSTO) arrived in Armenia on Thursday.

This is Studenikin’s first visit to Armenia after his appointment to
the post of Chief of CSTO Joint Staff.

On Friday Lieutenant General held meetings with Armenian Defense
Minister Seyran Ohanyan, Deputy Minister Davit Tonoyan and Chief
of Staff of the Armenian Armed Forces Yuri Khachaturov. The sides
discussed the ongoing reforms to improve effectiveness of the work
of CSTO military committee and CSTO joint staff, as well as issues
related to interaction between CSTO member states.

U.S. REPRESENTATIVE JOHN SARBANES DESCRIBED ALIYEV’S PARDON OF SAFAROV AS A “DIRECT AFFRONT TO NATO”

18:33, 15 March, 2013

YEREVAN, MARCH 15, ARMENPRESS: U.S. Representative John Sarbanes in
his specch in the House of Representatives described Aliyev’s pardon
of Safarov as a “direct affront to NATO”. As reports Armenpress citing
ANCA, Mr. Sarbanes stated that the United States must continue to
press for resolution of the Nagorno Karabakh dispute through the good
offices and mechanisms of international actors such as the Organization
for Security and Cooperation in Europe. “We must be ever vigilant in
decrying actions that undermine such efforts. I concur with the Obama
administration’s demand for an explanation of Azerbaijan’s pardoning
of Ramil Safarov. Azerbaijan’s decision to pardon Ramil Safarov after
he was convicted by a Hungarian court for the murder of an Armenian
soldier while participating in NATO’s Partnership for Peace program
is not only unconscionable, it is a direct affront to NATO and its
efforts to bring peace and stability to conflict regions through the
Partnership for Peace program,” said John Sarbanes.

U.S. Representative highlighted that peace and stability in the
Caucuses is in the national interest of the United States and our
European allies. That means achieving a peaceful resolution to
the rising tensions between the peoples of Armenia and Azerbaijan A
final status of the Nagorno Karabakh dispute must be achieved without
resorting to war and must be in keeping with democratic principles,
the rule of law and the protection of individual human rights.

Large-scale programs implemented in Artsakh’s Martakert region in 2012

13:57 16/03/2013 » ECONOMY

On March 16, Artsakh Republic President Bako Sahakyan visited the city
of Martakert to attend the reporting session on the activities carried
out in the region in 2012.

Head of the regional administration Vladik Khachatryan and chiefs of
various departments delivered corresponding reports.

In his remarks, Bako Sahakyan noted that in the period under review
large-scale programs were implemented in nearly all sectors of the
region.

Arsakh leader, meanwhile, said that there are still many problems in
the region and for their effective solution corresponding conclusions
should be made and necessary measures should be taken. The President
gave assignments in these directions.

NKR Prime Minister Ara Harutyunyan and other officials attended the
session, Central Information Department at Artsakh President’s Office
reported.

Source: Panorama.am

Specific Concerns

March 16 2013

We, Armenians, like to discuss global issues from `What will be the
end of this?’ series. During those abstract discussions the terms
`regime’ and `the people’ – God knows, what they mean – must be
present. Unfortunately, I cannot rise to that level of abstraction,
and that is why I am concerned about specific persons and specific
issues. I don’t want professors to be dismissed for expressing their
political positions. I don’t want a woman who expressed her opinion
about the Sevan mayor to be dragged to the police station. I don’t
want guys or groups `bringing votes during elections’ to be in the
government’s team, because those `guys’ or groups will cost the state
and the very government dearly in the next 5 years. I don’t want Serzh
Sargsyan’s name to be written in lower case, because firstly, I don’t
see any feat in it – it is an absolutely safe thing to do these days –
secondly neither the number of people leaving the country, nor the
corruption will be reduced by that. I don’t want Mher of Tokhmakh or
Schmeiss to be MPs, taking the places of more literate and clever
people. I don’t want Surik Khachatryan to be a governor, because our
towns and villages are emptying because of those very people. I don’t
want supporters of one candidate to think of the supporters of the
other candidate as enemies, provocateurs, sellouts etc. I don’t want
`proscription’ lists of those who weren’t with `the people’ and didn’t
struggle against the `regime’ to be drawn up in squares. I don’t want
people who cry louder than others at rallies to be in the `shadow’
Cabinet and then in case of the opposition’s victory, in the `lucid’
Cabinet – we experienced that partially after the 1988 Movement. I
want Tigran Arakelyan to be released from prison. In the end, I would
like it very much, if all our politicians were at least a bit like
Mrs. Anahit Bakhshyan. My compatriots who have reached the heights of
politicized and abstract thinking will respond to all that:
`Everything will be fine when the people topple the regime.’ It is
quite possible. It would be great, if after that face-off – I hope,
peaceful – prosperous and happy life started in Armenia. However, I
don’t think that it will be perfectly happy, so happy that one will
not have to think of specific people and specific phenomena again.
ARAM ABRAHAMYAN

Read more at:

© 1998 – 2013 Aravot – News from Armenia

For already 2,000 years the country of my soul – Spain – is connected
with Armenia – Julio Iglesias

TERT.AM
18:20 – 16.03.13

The first impression world famous singer Julio Iglesias got from
Armenia is that people here are very pleasant. Iglesias, who has
arrived here from Moscow, was told there that Armenia is a warm
country, but arriving here he has understood that it is not the
weather but the country’s and people’s warmth.

Speaking to reporters today he said he never gives concerts in
countries that are not pleasant for him.

`This is my first visit to Armenia, but not the visit must familiarize
me with Armenia. For already 2,000 years the country of my soul –
Spain – is connected with Armenia. Our languages are very similar,’
the world famous singer said. His concert in Yerevan is scheduled for
April 18 in Karen Demirtchyan sport and concert complex.

The organizers of the concert are American Global art and Armenia’s
Invintro Production companies.

`I am going to sing here with great love. This is the reason I am in
Yerevan today. I do not have many years to live and I am happy to be
here, to recognize the country of my Armenian friends,’ he said,
speaking about world famous singer Charles Aznavour who he called his
elder brother.

He said before arriving here he was interested what music Armenians
love and said he is going to perform those songs which Armenians love.

The greatest loss in his life, the artist considers time, the greatest
achievement – timely death. `People think that they are great
dreamers, in reality the people prefer others be dreamers than they,’
this is Iglesias’ life’s formula.

How much does Ashotyan’s anti-corruption fight cost?

2013-03-16 15:07:00

The most favorite activity of state structures of Armenia is the fight
against corruption. President fights against corruption, either he
calls one of his employees and urges to fight against corruption, or
collects all at once and again, urges to the fight against corruption
… employees, of course, memorize the words of the President and
“hang the same deceive” on the workers in their “homes”.

It has been four or five years since the Minister of Education and
Science Armen Ashotyan fights against corruption. Moreover, in
addition, besides, that he, as Minister- excellent pupil
unconditionally accepts all orders and executes them, he also develops
a type of anti-corruption of his own production. So, today, Minister
Armen Ashotyan presented a comprehensive program of activities to
combat corruption in the field of education and science in 2013-2014.
Minister Ashotyan successfully passed a comprehensive program with the
same content for the 2011-2012, in line was another program, the start
of which was given today.

Question: Can anyone, even the one, who has most brilliant knowledge,
get a job, for example at Chekhov school (the same can be said of many
other schools, by the way, in some villages to pay bribes and “good”
for the top of the school are not inferior to the capital indicators)?
This issue has been relevant for several years, including the
“disinfected” period for comprehensive anti-corruption program.

Ashotyan is in his element-to spread issues, answer any question, not
to allow to point to the problems and talk about them in person, in
fact, also charges that they do not allow to solve these problems.

“4 years ago, the school director was free and hired someone, whom he
liked, the the teachers wrote, saying the vacant position should be
taken by competition, competitive system developed, invested, started
work, new problems arose. Liberal things were written that schools
should be free of academic and administrative staff in the choice, the
director must be free in his choice … it does not work, does not
always work. If we now make severe, tell, say the state in the
post-election period increases administrative instruments. Now we have
developed the system, preventing the directors of former law. There
will be a new competitive system, which deprives directors of a number
of competitive power.

There is no doubt that the same question may be asked every year, at
the start or finish of each ntegrated program, and every time one can
hear the same “bright” ideas.

Lusine Kesoyan

Turkey’s musical archive preserved due to Armenian musician Hambardzum
Limonchyan

15:35, 16 March, 2013

YEREVAN, MARCH 16, ARMENPRESS. A special site has been created in
Turkey through which the Ottoman music archive – preserved due to
Armenian musician Hambardzum Limonchyan – will be introduced to the
public. As “Armenpress” reports Turkish newspaper “Zaman” informs
about that.

The newspaper points out that the application of notes in Turkish
music started in the 19th century during the period of reign of sultan
Selim III. Due to Sultan Selim’s wish Armenian composer and musician
Hambardzum Limonchyan from Constantinople discovered a type of musical
notation which received the name “Hambardzum’s Music Notation” in
Turkey.

Among other things the Turkish newspaper stated: “Due to that musical
notation applied in Turkey in the 19th century it was possible to
prevent the loss of numerous musical works created in two centuries in
Turkey. The majority of those works were kept in archives for a long
while. Now lots of works recorded in “Hambardzum’s Music Notation”
will be accessible for the Turkish public due to the newly created
site.”