Author: Karakhanian Suren

SHORTCOMINGS IN BUDGET EXECUTION HAD POSITIVE EFFECT ON INFLATION, DEPUTY CHAIRMAN OF CBA SAYS

Noyan Tapan

Ma y 12, 2008

YEREVAN, MAY 12, NOYAN TAPAN. There are some problems with the
execution of Armenia’s budget in recent years and these problems
have had a negative impact on efficiency of the monetary and credit
policy, the deputy chairman of the Central Bank of Armenia (CBA)
Arthur Javadian said at the May 12 joint sitting of the National
Assembly standing committees.

In particular, according to him, tax collection exceeded the
programmed level and expenditures were saved in the first quarter of
2007. Besides, a large share of expenditures in cash was retained
in the structure of budgetary expenditures in 2007. "Thus, on the
one hand, the large share of cash in budgetary expenditures, on
the other hand, some proportions in the nonspecified state budget
negatively affected the efficiency of management of banking liquidity
and the process of improving the activity of the financial market,"
A. Javadian said. At the same time, in his words, under conditions of
accelerating inflation in Armenia and the appreciation of the Armenian
dram in 2007, the collection of more revenues than was envisaged and
the underfulfilment of the expenditure programs did not create any
additional pressure on inflation in the consumer market and in fact,
had a positive effect on macroeconomic stability.

GYMNAST HAROUTIUN MERDINIAN TAKES 5th PLACE IN EUROPE CHAMPIONSHIP

Noyan Tapan

Ma y 12, 2008

YEREVAN, MAY 12, NOYAN TAPAN. Haroutiun Merdinian (Yerevan) performed
successfully among Armenia’s representatives in the Europe Individual
Championship of Sports Gymnastics held in the city of Lausanne. He
took the 7th place in the preliminary competitions on the wooden horse
and was included in the final 8. In the competition of the strongest
sportsmen H. Merdinian developed his success and strengthened his
positions in the honorary 5th place.

LEVON ARONIAN GAINS 1.5 OUT OF 4 POSSIBLE POINTS IN SOFIA INTERNATIONAL TOURNAMENT

Noyan Tapan

Ma y 12, 2008

SOFIA, MAY 12, NOYAN TAPAN. Four tours have been held in the
International Chess Tournament being held in Sofia. Levon Aronian has
gained 1.5 out of 4 possible points and shares the 3-5th places. In
the 5th tour Levon Aronian will compete with tournament leader Vasili
Ivanchuk (the Ukraine), who has 4 out of 4 possible points.

"Qele-Qele" leading in many charts
10.05.2008 15:02

Marianna Gyurjyan
"Radiolur"

Counted days are left before the Eurovision 2008 Song Contest. On May
20 Sirusho will perform at the first semifinal. Before that the singer
is traveling and presenting her song in different countries of the
world.

The song Sirusho will present at the Contest does not leave the leading
positions in many pre-charts and predictions. Thus, `Qele-Qele’ is
leading with 23% of the votes in the poll conducted at
Georgia is the second with 17% of the votes,
Turkey is the third with 12%.

Armenia is the sole leader in another web poll conducted at
30% of the participants voted for Sirusho’s
`Qele-Qele.’ Ukraine comes second with 30.1%, Sweden is the third with
28.6%.

Bookmakers are making a different prediction. Betting odds vary with
different bookmaking offices, but overall they predict victory for
Russia. According to forecasts, Serbia will come second, Armenia will
be the third. However, the experience of the past years has shown that
surprises are not excluded at the Eurovision.

On these days the Armenian delegation is traveling within the framework
of the promo-tour to present `the sunlight taken from the Armenian
land’ to the audience in different countries.’

Armenia also welcomes participants of the Eurovision 2008 from other
countries. On May 5 Diana Gurtskaya – the Georgian entrant at the
Eurovision – visited Armenia. She told reporters that participation is
already a victory for her, adding that she and Sirusho will do their
best to present their countries with dignity.

After long silence the head of the Armenian delegation Dana
Mnatsakanyan finally revealed some details of the show that has been
staged by Russian choreographer Sergey Mandrik. `This year the song is
again about love, and there is a staging, which, I think, is very
interesting.’

ARMENPRESS

DMITRI MEDVEDEV CONGRATULATES ARMENIAN PRESIDENT ON VICTORY DAY

MOSCOW, MAY 9, ARMENPRESS: President of Russia
Dmitri Medvedev sent congratulatory messages to the
presidents of the CIS countries on the Day of Victory
and Peace.
Kremlin press service reported that in the message
to the Armenian President Serzh Sargsian, Medvedev
particularly wrote, `I am sure that the
Armenian-Russian friendship which has undergone trial
of the time will hence also be basis for boosting
strategic partnership and multilateral cooperation
between our countries.’

212 newspapers, 137 magazines published in Armenia in 2007

YEREVAN, May 8. /ARKA/. 212 newspapers and 137 magazines were published
in Armenia in 2007 against 207 and 130 respectively the previous year.

The RA Statistical Service reports that 195 Armenian-language and 14
Russian-language newspapers, as well as an English newspaper, a
Ukrainian and a Kurdish newspapers, were published in Armenia.

Nine newspapers were daily editions, 11 newspapers were published 2-3
times a week and 38 newspapers were weekly editions. Besides, 91
newspapers were published 1-3 times per month and 46 newspapers were
published not regularly.

Total annual circulation was 32,149,400 copies in 2007 (against
29,490,000 in 2006), with 88.9% of them being published in Armenian.

137 magazines and 32 other periodicals were published in Armenia in
2007 (against 130 in 2006)

89 Armenian-language, 17 Russian-language and 4 English-language
magazines were published. 27 magazines came out in several languages at
once.

Six magazines were published 2-4 times a month, 19 magazines ` 8-12
times a year, 11 magazines ` 5-7 times a year, 37 magazines ` 2-4 times
a 3 magazines were published once per year. 26 magazines were published
with not certain periodicity. `0–

Egoyan’s Adoration picked up by Sony
Last Updated: Wednesday, May 7, 2008 | 1:04 PM ET
CBC News

Sony Pictures has picked up the distribution rights to Atom Egoyan’s
latest film, Adoration, starring Arsinee Khanjian and Scott Speedman.
The movie, set to premiere at the Cannes Film Festival on May 22,
centres on a teenager who creates a fake internet identity and pursues a
family secret.
Also starring Rachel Blanchard and Devon Bostick, the film marks the
seventh collaboration between the Toronto filmmaker and producer Robert
Lantos.
Egoyan has previously said the movie was inspired by a true story about
a man who talks his pregnant girlfriend onto an El Al flight, where she
is found with a bomb in her handbag.
"What sort of mind would be able to actually talk a woman who was
pregnant with their child into getting onto that flight? And what about
the child – or a teenager who begins to fantasize that they were that
child?… And they’re trying to deal with that legacy in their own
life," he told CBC Radio’s Q program in April.
The Sony deal covers domestic rights as well as Latin America, Australia
and New Zealand.
Egoyan will be among 19 directors vying for the Palme d’Or at the Cannes
festival, running May 14-25.

Israeli arts prize
In separate news, Egoyan – who was born in Egypt to Armenian parents –
has also captured the Dan David Prize for the arts, a $1 million US
prize to be shared with his fellow winners, author Amos Oz and
playwright Tom Stoppard.
Oz is an Israeli journalist and author who has written extensively about
the politics of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as well as fictional
stories.
The Czech-born Stoppard, who has made his home in England for many
years, is renowned for his theatrical works including Rosencrantz and
Guildenstern are Dead, Arcadia and The Real Thing. The 70-year-old
writer’s most recent Broadway production is Rock ‘n’ Roll.
The Dan David Prize, administered by Tel Aviv University in Israel,
centres on contributions to humanity that cover three time dimensions –
past, present and future.
Cited for "superb modernist filmmaking that explores Armenian history
and culture," Egoyan will be honoured with the others on May 19 in
Israel at a ceremony with Israeli President Shimon Peres.

Azeri Press Agency, Azerbaijan
May 6 2008

Azerbaijani Foreign Minister meets OSCE MG Co-Chairs

[ 06 May 2008 20:02 ]

Strasbourg. Fuad Gulubayli`APA. Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar
Mammadyarov has met OSCE MG Co-Chairs in CE French Representation, APA
Europe bureau reports.

The meeting has lasted two hours. The sides have exchanged views on
the settlement of Nagorno Karabakh conflict. OSCE MG Co-Chairs have
also met Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian. The negotiations
will be conducted with the participation of the co-chairs and Foreign
Ministers of the two countries after the meeting.

RICE’S ASSESSMENT OF SITUATION IN AZERBAIJAN BIASED – BAKU

Interfax News Agency
May 3 2008
Russia

Azeri leaders have criticized U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza
Rice’s assessment of Azerbaijan’s democracy record.

"Rice’s statement is based on unreliable information and is not
serious, in my opinion," presidential chief of staff Ramiz Mekhtiyev
told journalists on Saturday.

What the U.S. secretary of state said suggests that while the political
situation and other problems have been resolved brilliantly in Georgia
and in Armenia, Azerbaijan remains a backward regional country,
Mekhtiyev said.

"By Rice’s logic, if our country is to win any appraisal from her,
the situation in Armenia in February-March must repeat itself in
Azerbaijan," Mekhtiyev said.

ARMENIAN GENOCIDE: DENYING THE UNDENIABLE

Blogger News Network

April 28 2008

In New York’s Times Square on Sunday afternoon, Armenians, documentary
filmmakers, politicians and historians who refuse to allow the nearly
successful genocidal campaign by the Ottoman Turks to be forgotten,
gathered to mark the 93rd year of the atrocity and of the Turkish
denials.

The two-hour event featured the usual speeches – you know, that
quote by Adolph Hitler that no one speaks of the annihilation of
the Armenians, the response by Armenian-American writer William
Saroyan about the resilience of the Armenian people. Notably, however,
Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) promised to resurrect the Armenian Genocide
resolution in Congress, and Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ) vowed to derail
the appointment of Marie L. Yovanovitch as ambassador to Armenia if she
refuses to characterize "the events of 1915" as "genocide" – just as
he blocked the appointment of Richard Hoagland for that reason. (BTW,
for the 8th year in a row President Bush marked "Armenian Remembrance
Day" on April 24th by once again using mealy-mouthed euphemisms –
"mass killings and forced exile," "epic human tragedy" – instead of
"genocide.")

French philosopher and journalist Bernard-Henri Lévy explains the
parallels between the Armenian Genocide and the Jewish Holocaust
(video link), and argues in favor of criminalizing speech that denies
either crime against humanity. As an American The Stiletto does not
favor such free speech restrictions, but Lévy’s argument offers an
illuminating perspective on the crime of genocide. Here is a snippet:

One of the things which characterizes and distinguishes genocide is
… at the very moment the criminal act is carried out it already
incorporates its own denial. … The Jews know it well and the
Armenians knew it before them. For the crime to be perfect it has
to be traceless. And for it to be traceless it has to be annihilated
even from the memories of the survivors and descendants. … And this
is the reason revisionism can rightfully be qualified as the ultimate
stage of genocide.

Thus, each time the Turkish government denies the genocide occurred –
or portrays the victims as traitors to the Ottoman Empire – their
crime against humanity is perpetuated against the survivors and
their descendents.

Note: The Stiletto writes about politics and other stuff at The
Stiletto Blog, chosen an Official Honoree in the Political Blogs
category by the judges of the 12th Annual Webby Awards (the Oscars
of the online universe) along with CNN Political Ticker, Swampland
(Time magazine) and The Caucus (The New York Times).

–Boundary_(ID_D+2cFPGORjiDGZw3XJXrFQ)–