Author: Kanayan Tamar

Armenia among world’s 10 countries with military burden of 4% or more of GDP

Kanayan Tamar
Panorama, Armenia
April 27 2020

Global military expenditure is estimated to have been $1,917 billion in 2019, the highest level since 1988, according to a new report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).

The total was 3.6% higher in real terms than in 2018 and 7.2% higher than in 2010, the Trends in World Military Expenditure, 2019 reveals.

Armenia’s military spending grew slightly last year to make up 4.9% of the gross domestic product (GDP), making it one of the 10 countries with a military burden of 4% or more of GDP in the world.

Armenia ranks sixth on the list, which also features Oman (8.8%), Saudi Arabia, (8%), Kuwait (5.6%), Israel (5.3%), Jordan (4.7%), Lebanon (4.2%), Algeria (6%), Azerbaijan (4%) and Pakistan (4%).

Of the 149 countries for which SIPRI has military burden data for 2019, 10 allocated 4% or more of their GDP to the military, 13 had a military burden of 3–3.9% of GDP, 24 had a military burden of 2–2.9%, 65 had a military burden of 1–1.9%, and 34 allocated less than 1.0% of their GDP to the military. Three countries do not have a military and therefore have no military burden: Costa Rica, Iceland and Panama, the report says.

The world’s top five military spenders include the US, China, India, Russia and Saudi Arabia.


On-Line Presentation on May 7 At 8:00 pm LA Time

Kanayan Tamar
Dear Friends and Compatriots, 

The ARPA Institute will have an on-line presentation using ZOOM by Dr. Michelle Tuson on: “The British Empire and the Armenian Genocide” on Thursday, May 7 at 8:00 pm. Please view the announcement below.


FOR THOSE WHO WANT TO PARTICIPATE, YOU NEED TO LET US KNOW BY SENDING BACK AN E-MAIL STATING YOUR WILLINGNESS TO TAKE PART. WE WILL THEN SEND YOU THE CODE AND THE PASSWORD NECESSARY TO LOGIN AND VIEW THE PRESENTATION.
If you do not have ZOOM on your phone/computer, you need to download it at:     It is free.


Please read about the ARPA Institute activities in our Newsletter in the following link: 

http://arpainstitute.org/ public_archives/Newsletters/ Newsletter_19.pdf 

Please view the video on “Health Care in Armenia: My Personal Journey“ by Dr. Garo Tertzakian in the following link:




Please view the video of our new Armenia Executive Director, Mr. Barkev Iskikian, presenting, with Dr. Shant Shekherdimian and Dr. Hagop Panossian, the latest developments in Armenia related to science, technology, healthcare, education and the economy in the link below:



Dr. Hakob Kiuliujian and: Dr. Lily

Karapetian’s lectures on new approaches to learning Armenian in the following connection.


A round-table discussion entitled “Development of high technologies and the competitiveness of the Armenian economy” was held at YSU, organized by ARPA Foundation, Alternative Center and YSU.

You can view the following website:



Aram Manukian’s lecture “Nanotechnology in Armenia” can be viewed by clicking the following link. 



Please also view the Round-Table Discussion on “WAKE UP DIASPORA” in the links below:

https://youtu.be/QyxCGfaJteU


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Armenian Genocide victims are honored in Abkhazia

Kanayan Tamar
News.am, Armenia

17:51, 25.04.2020
                  

More than 50 people attended a memorial service at the Armenian Apostolic Church in Gagra on April 24, in memory of the Armenian Genocide victims, Levon Galustyan, a member of the Abkhazian parliament, told Sputnik Radio, Sputnik-Georgia reports.

“People had come with the call of their soul,” he added, in particular.

According to Galustyan, Armenian Genocide’s recognition is necessary so that such events never happen again. “There is hope in the heart of every Armenian and sound thinker that one day this historic event will be recognized in Turkey,” he said. “The Hamshen Armenians living in Abkhazia, including my family, are the direct descendants of the victims of the genocide in the Ottoman Empire.”

Music: Hayko, Artur Grigoryan, Harout Pamboukjian and others to perform at TOVMASYAN Charity Foundation’s pan-Armenian online concert

Kanayan Tamar
Panorama, Armenia

As reported earlier, TOVMASYAN Charity Foundation for the first time in the world has organized an unprecedented pan-Armenian interactive online charity concert program with the participation of more than 40 well-known Armenian stars through VR technologies.

A teaser released by the foundation reveals that Artak Tovmasyan, Artur Grigoryan, Harout Pamboukjian, Tata Simonyan, Arman Hovhannisyan, Armenchik, Razmik Amyan, Ara Martirosyan, Saro Tovmasyan, Erik Karapetyan, KarenSevak Band, Arame, Martin Mkrtchyan, Hripsime Hakobyan, Hayko, Sofi Mkheyan, Tatul Avoyan, Hayk Ghevondyan, Sona Shahgeldyan and other popular singers will perform during the concert.

The details on the complete list of the participants, official partners of the concert and ways of purchasing tickets are available in the video. 

The concert will be streaming live both from Yerevan Dvin Music Hall and Los Angeles on May 5, at 8:20pm Yerevan time and at 9:20am Los-Angeles time.

All proceeds from the concert will be used for Covid-19 anti-coronavirus programs in Armenia to purchase the necessary equipment and appropriate medications. 

Artists from Armenia will perform at Dvin Music Hall keeping some social distancing (#SocialDistancing), while those who will join from Los Angeles will perform online from home (#StayHome).

More information is available here https://all.me/tovmasyanfoundation

Read about the unique flashmob here 

Armenia health minister warns MPs against early restriction changes due to community transmission

Kanayan Tamar

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 16:04,

YEREVAN, APRIL 10, ARMENPRESS. Healthcare Minister Arsen Torosyan has warned lawmakers at the parliamentary committee on health and social affairs against any potential changes or lifting of the current nationwide restrictions only because of the decreasing daily new cases.

“We cannot say that the transmission is stopping and is going away 100%. In the past, we were having 50 cases from a single cluster, for example 50 workers of a large factor, now we are having 16, 20 or 30 cases but from 10 or 20 different clusters. Therefore, the transmission of the virus in itself has gone out of control, but our objective is to find each and every potential case and carry out the same actions like before – test, confirm, isolate the direct contacts, treat and discharge. We must do this as much as we have the power to do it. When we will all, nationwide, get exhausted, that is only when we will be able to lift some actions and we will leave only the testing and treating, we won’t do the isolation, because it will be meaningless during a much higher outbreak,” Torosyan said.

Torosyan warned the lawmakers that the slowing growth in new cases is not a sufficient reason to lift the lockdown. He cited the practice of other countries as well.

The number of COVID-19 cases in Armenia has reached 937, of which 149 have recovered and 12 have died.

Reporting by Anna Grigoryan

Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan




CIVILNET.Russian Mobile Testing Labs Arrive in Armenia; Ter-Petrossian Extends His Support to the Government

Kanayan Tamar
CIVILNET.AM

April 8, 2020 20:57 
Russia has sent a mobile laboratory and specials to conduct COVID-19 testing. Nagorno-Karabakh’s Central Electoral Commission announces that the runoff election will go ahead on April 14. Former member of the National Assembly Levon Sargsyan will be extradited from Russia. And Armenia’s First president Levon Ter-Petrossian has written an article about the COVID-19 situation in the country.
 

CIVILNET.COVID-19: What is the Situation in Europe and Armenia?

Kanayan Tamar
CIVILNET.AM

April 9, 2020 12:07 p.m 

By Ani Paitjan

In a statement to the press on April 8, Dr. Hans P. Kluge, World Health Organization (WHO) Director for Europe, said that Europe remains at the center of the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to Dr. Kluge, overall new cases continue to increase in Europe. 

“The total number of laboratory confirmed cases was 687,236, including 52,824 people who have sadly passed away as of April 8,” he said. 

These data are from 53 countries and seven territories, including Armenia.

The concerning fact for the WHO director is that, worldwide, seven of the top ten countries most affected are located in the European continent, including Spain, Italy, France, the United Kingdom, Turkey and Switzerland. 

According to WHO, Armenia is ranked 32 out of 53 in terms of total number of infected cases, while Spain and Italy are in the first and second place with 140,510 and 135,586 cases respectively.

In terms of restrictions imposed by European governments to limit the spread of the virus, Dr. Kluge notes two main trends. 

  1. Following the combination of public health and clinical interventions put in place, some of the countries with community transmission are starting to show signs of a decline in the rate of increase of new cases.
  2. Other countries are experiencing a rapid increase in cases or fresh surges. 

Dr. Kluge stated that they were alarmed for Armenia’s neighbour, Turkey. The country has seen a dramatic increase in virus spread over the last week with 60 percent of cases coming from Istanbul.

Profile of people infected by COVID-19

“We now know that the virus behaves in the same way in Europe and in China – so we are also learning more about how it can be controlled”, noted Dr. P. Kluge. 

Infection occurs across all ages, although proportionally less in children under the age of 15. But the burden of severe disease is greater in older people, particularly men, and those with underlying chronic conditions.

“Among those who have sadly lost their lives, two thirds are male, and 95% are over the age of 60. Most of these individuals had one or a combination of underlying conditions: cardiovascular disease (66%), diabetes (29%) and renal disease (21%), ” said Dr. P. Kluge

In Armenia, 10 people have died from COVID-19 as of April 9, most of them over 60 years old with pre-existing conditions.
 

Newspaper: Armenia authorities seeking ways out of "deadlock" on Constitutional Court

Kanayan Tamar
News.am, Armenia
April 8 2020

09:27, 08.04.2020
                  

YEREVAN. – Past daily of Armenia writes. According to Past’s sources, the issue of dismissal of 7 judges of the CC [Constitutional Court] remains on the political agenda of the authorities; it is even more priority than overcoming the current and expected crises.

In particular, it is envisaged to make decisions in that direction based on the situation, using the mechanisms that do not prevent the Constitution. According to the newspaper’s information, the most preliminary option for the settlement of the issue is currently being discussed; namely, resolving the issue in the parliament by voting because it is not clear how long this situation will continue.

By the way, an attempt is already being gradually made to put forward the thesis that “the people have given a mandate to the ruling force,” and [therefore] the ruling [parliamentary] faction, as if, has to solve the issue in the parliament very quickly.

Aurora donates $120,000 to Armenia’s Covid-19 efforts

Kanayan Tamar
PanArmenian, Armenia
April 7 2020

April 7, 2020 – 14:58 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – The #AraratChallenge movement launched by the Aurora Humanitarian Initiative has made a $120,000 donation to the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Armenia to buy lung ventilation devices.

“This is truly an outstanding act of support and humanity on behalf of Aurora. As soon as the pandemic broke out, all healthcare systems in the world including Armenia were forced to mobilize quickly and use whatever resources they had to make sure people get access to treatment in a timely manner,” said Arsen Torosyan, Minister of Health of the Republic of Armenia.

“Our nation’s response to the health crisis has been adequate. However, the importance of proper equipment could not be overemphasized, and we are very grateful to the Aurora Humanitarian Initiative””

Earlier, the Initiative has released a statement reflecting its concern with the current outbreak of COVID-19 and detailing Aurora’s intention to help fight the pandemic and assist the world in dealing with this crisis. To that end, the Initiative has pledged to direct part of the funds raised with the #AraratChallenge campaign to support Armenian health professionals on the front lines with ten lung ventilation devices. Based on the donation agreement, at least one of the acquired devices will be transferred to one of the hospitals in Artsakh.

Armenia COVID-19: More positive tests bring active cases to 499

Kanayan Tamar

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 13:33, 31 March, 2020

YEREVAN, MARCH 31, ARMENPRESS. 50 new COVID-19 cases have been confirmed in Armenia in one day, bringing the total cumulative number to 532, healthcare ministry spokesperson Alina Nikoghosyan said on social media.

She said that 23 of the cases were quarantined, and 24 are direct contacts of earlier cases. The contacts of the remaining three cases are being traced, she said.

As of 13:00 GMT+4, March 31, the total cumulative number of the novel coronavirus infections in Armenia is 532. With 30 recoveries and 3 fatalities, the number of active cases is 499.

Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan