Author: Nadirian Emma

TWO ADDITIONAL VIVACELL-MTS SERVICE CENTERS LAUNCHED IN YEREVAN

ArmInfo
2008-10-09 12:01:00

ArmInfo. VivaCell-MTS Company announces the opening of two
new-generation service centers in Yerevan respectively in 19-21,
Saryan St. and 9/5 Kochinyan St.

The subscribers have access now to a closer Service Center in their
near vicinity. The above new service centers are open from 9.00 to
18.00 on Mondays through Saturdays, and at 9.00 -13.00 every Sunday,
with the capacity to serve 140 customers per hour, with a fully
trained and professional team of experts.

"Here we are again fulfilling yet another promise. We have promised
to be available everywhere all over Armenia, and day after day we
are keeping this promise. And that’s not all, as the best is yet to
come" – noted Ralph Yirikian, VivaCell-MTS General Manager during
the opening ceremony. The whole range of the VivaCell-MTS products
and services are made available in the newly-opened service centers
including international roaming, post-paid and prepaid packages with
respective tariff plans, invoice settling, different denomination
scratch cards, number selection, GPRS, corporate packages, detailed
bills, and other services. With its constantly growing staff,
VivaCell-MTS is truly a national employer with a clear aim to better
serve the subscriber. During the last year the Company has more than
doubled the number of its employees in Yerevan and marzes, a team
that is engaged in continuous professional development program.

VivaCell – MTS (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 – MTS
has managed to build a nationwide network and considerable customer
base. VivaCell – MTS drives the development and offering of innovative
mobile communications products, services and features in the Armenian
mobile communications market.

Mobile TeleSystems OJSC ("MTS") is the largest mobile phone operator
in Russia and the CIS. Together with its subsidiaries, the Company
services over 91 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).

ORANGE TO LAUNCH ARMENIA NETWORK
by David Masters

The Telecom
October 8, 2008
UK

France-based mobile operator Orange has been awarded a licence to
launch a new mobile network in the Republic of Armenia.

It will be the third mobile network to set up in the country.

The Armenian government announced the licence yesterday after Orange
submitted a formal licence bid of â~B¬51.5 million on 6th October.

This was far in excess of the Armenian government’s asking price –
just â~B¬10 million.

The two other bidders in the race – British-Irish group CEO Blackrock
Communications and Sweden-based Tele2 AB – offered â~B¬31.7 million
and â~B¬45.6 million respectively.

A GSM and 3G network will now be launched in the country, with Orange
winning the right to issue 055 and 095 dial codes.

As part of the licence agreement, Orange is required to invest at
least â~B¬200 million in the network roll-out.

The Republic of Armenia has a population of three million, a third
of which live in the capital, Yerevan.

Around 72% of the population already owns a mobile phone.

–Boundary_(ID_iUf1VmCSvh8Tl187+gjvHA)–

INTERIM PARLIAMENTARY COMMITTEE: FOR WHOM AND WITH WHAT PURPOSE WAS IT SET UP?
Kima Yeghiazaryan

Hayots Ashkhar Daily
07 Oct 2008
Armenia

For those who deprive it of its reputation?

There is such an impression that the interim parliamentary committee
investigating the March 1-2 incidents and their causes works only for
the sake of the revolutionaries. To be more exact, this is no longer
an impression, but rather – a reality.

Judging by the activities of the committee, we can definitely say
that from the very start it adopted an approach of not making the
Ter-Petrosyan-led "pan-national" movement angry or offended. Whereas
the revolutionary leaders ignored the activities of the committee
from the outset, announcing that they didn’t trust the body because
it couldn’t work "impartially".

The members of the committee were not even offended when LTP made a
statement on sending Gevorik, an activist of the Armenian Pan-National
Movement, to the committee, instaed of participating in its activities
himself.

As we have already mentioned, the committee continues to act in
support of the revolutionaries, in an attempt to resist the blows it
receives every day from the centre of the movement. At the same time,
it spares no effort for being considered a little bit "tolerable"
by the aggressive minority.

Whereas the task of setting up an interim commi ttee was conditioned
by the necessity of revealing to the public why the tragic events
happened and what they were caused by. And not with the purpose of
making titanic efforts in an attempt to prove certain things to the
organizers and activists participating in the March 1 events. And
this is what the committee has been doing for around 3 months. But
all the efforts proved fruitless.

The way the committee works is really strange. Especially
considering the fact that the revolutionaries, expressing "distrust"
of the committee and rejecting its proposal of having their own
representatives there, set up their own "committee conducting an
inquiry into the March 1 incidents". And now it turns out that both
the parliamentary and the "public" committees act in support of the
revolutionaries.

Just look here: the NA Interim Committee never misses a week and pays
regular visits to the prison cells to see the "political detainees".

One might think that it has managed to find out certain things during
those visits. But as a matter of fact, there’s nothing new apart from
the successive self-justifications of the detainees saying that they
haven’t done anything wrong and are in prison only because of their
political views.

For example, Souren Sirounyan, chief security guard of Vano
[Siradegyan] called the committee members from the isolation cell. And
they ran there again to hear Mr. Sirounyan say that he took pride in
standing next to Alik Arzoumanyan, Sassoon Mikayelyan and the others
during the court hearings.

We do not know what the committee managed to find out as a result
of this particular visit, but we are sure that the exciting meeting
cannot, in any way, contribute to inquiry into the cases, let alone
revelation of their causes.

Or, let’s take the issue discussed during the previous session. I mean,
the well-known video material provided by the revolutionaries. First,
it is surprising why the interim committee does not conduct an inquiry
into a "thriller" that doesn’t have an author; something which results
from the fantasy of the radical collective, so to say.

And what’s more, it wastes time and means on sending the anonymous
message for expert examination in order to find out whether the films
shown in the video material are human parts of body or not; or whether
what is seen on the walls of the French Embassy is really blood. If
the revolutionaries do not trust those people, was there any point in
making their reflections a subject of inquiry? Especially when there
was something the committee members knew from the outset: regardless
the conclusion of any of the experts, the anonymous authors of the
video material (who had authorship rights) wouldn’t believe them.

And where is the only eye-witness, i.e. the operator o f "A1+"? It
turns out he has disappeared from the country. Once the committee
proposed that the operator participate in the upcoming sessions and
clarify certain points, he was immediately lost sight of.

As to former Home Minister Souran Abrahamyan, one of the responsible
members of the committee of the revolutionaries, he turned down
the invitation of the parliamentary committee and didn’t attend the
session and then labeled it as a "cynical show". And frankly speaking,
he did the right thing. If the committee allows him and other people
like him to wind its members round their fingers, it may not wait
for other assessments.

Do you remember that during one of the sessions, the committee
members assured the participants that there was a pile of pictures
full of petrifying scenes, which the revolutionaries had photographed
on March 1? So many people asked and begged them for the photos,
however… It turned out they had gone underground, together with
Nickol [Pashinyan]. One can only imagine with what responsibility the
NA Interim Committee would have sent the pile of photos for expert
examination had it received them in time.

It is really ridiculous to see the committee members making attempts
to satisfy the revolutionaries at any price.

Another interesting consideration: Vahagn Haroutyunyan, Head of
the group conducting the investigation of the "March 1" case,
participate d in the sessions several times. Do you remember any
member of the committee ask him whether they were going to interrogate
L. Ter-Petrosyan at least for an hour? No committee member dares to
address such kind of question to the Head of the Investigative Group.

Why? Because the NA Interim Committee has adopted the following
slogan: to win the favor of the revolutionaries, to caress and cherish
them. Otherwise, their fit of anger will be repeated.

San Jose Mercury News, USA

Chris Watson, Bookbriefs
–
Article Launched: 10/05/2008 01:36:33 AM PDT

In 1868, John Muir took his first trip across California, from Oakland
to Yosemite via the Santa Clara Valley, Pacheco Pass and the San
Joaquin Valley to Snelling and Coulterville.

In 2006, Peter and Donna Thomas, Santa Cruz book artists, followed in
Muir’s footsteps, recording their impressions along the way.

Because everything is grist for the artistic spirit, Peter then
decided to create, in secret, a record of the trip for his wife’s 51st
birthday.

Using Donna’s drawings and adding original lines from Muir about what
he saw so long ago, Peter made, on home-made rag paper, a 12-page
accordion book.

Luckily, he made 51 copies of the book and book collectors may
purchase one by visiting

Saroyan honored in his centenary

William Saroyan isn’t an author that all readers — even native
Californian readers — are familiar with.

The big, blustery Armenian-American may have lived up and down the
state over his lifetime and may have written scads of short stories, a
couple of novels and even won a Pulitzer for his play, "The Time of
Your Life", but his legacy has been, in large part, neglected.

On the centenary of Saroyan’s birth, Heyday Books of Berkeley has
published a volume

it hopes will revivify the author’s importance to California letters.

"He Flies Through the Air With the Greatest of Ease: A William Saroyan
Reader," edited by William E. Justice $35 cloth; $24.95 paper, is a
whopping 600-page volume that samples widely from Saroyan’s published
work: selected short stories from four anthologies; two novels; his
prize-winning play; plus, selected autobiographical writings that
illustrate why the man wrote the way he did "" big, with bravado and
joy and a visceral need to get it all down on paper.

Included is a foreword by his friend and fellow author Herbert Gold
and eight pages of family photos.

Lehane movesto a bigger stage

If you’re in the vicinity of Corte Madera on Monday or San Francisco
on Tuesday, you might want to stop by in that order Book Passage or
Books, Inc. at 7 p.m. to hear author Dennis Lehane read from his new
novel, "The Given Day."

Although Lehane has already earned himself a reputation for dark,
daring novels "" e.g., "Mystic River," "Shutter Island," "Gone, Baby,
Gone" "" his new effort ups the ante considerably.

A bruiser of a novel at over 700 pages, "The Given Day" profiles a
period in American life "" the end of World War I "" when social,
political and economic forces collided with considerable force.

Boston’s Irish populations still figure, but anarchists and
city-dwelling blacks have big roles too, as does Babe Ruth.

If you think today’s world is complicated, read this book and be of
good cheer.

Reading beyond 1984

George Orwell wrote a lot more than just "Animal Farm" and "Nineteen
Eighty-Four."

If he’d been alive today, it’s likely that the prolific Orwell would
have been a blogger. In consideration of that fact, a professor at the
University of Westminster in London is publishing Orwell’s diary
entries daily 70 years to the day after they were written.

Check it out at orwelldiaries.wordpress.com

Coming this week

¢ Wendy Chapkis and Richard Webb, "Dying to Get High: Marijuana as
Medicine," with special guests Valerie and Michael Corral, 7:30
p.m. today, Bookshop Santa Cruz, 1520 Pacific Ave., Santa Cruz.

¢ Robert Martensen, "A Life Worth Living: A Doctor’s Reflections on
Illness in a High-Tech Era," 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Bookshop Santa Cruz.

¢ Wendy Chapkis, "Dying to Get High," 12:30-2 p.m. Room 301,
College 8, UC Santa Cruz.

¢ The Rev. John Dear, SJ, "A Persistent Peace: One Man’s Struggle
for a Nonviolent World," 7:30 p.m. Friday, Capitola Book Cafe, 1475
41st Ave., Capitola.

Contact Chris Watson at [email protected].

177 REHABILITATED DUE TO ARMENIA’S OMBUDSMAN IN JAN-SEPT

ARKA
Oct 3, 2008

YEREVAN, October 3. /ARKA/. In January-September 2008, positive
decisions were made on 79 complaints lodged with the RA Ombudsman.

RA Ombudsman Armen Harutyunyan reported that 177 people got their
rights restored.

"During the period we received 2,845 complaints from citizens, 907
of them in written form," Harutyunyan said.

Among the most important achievements, Harutyunyan included the RA
Constitutional Court’s favorable decision on a claim appealing some
provisions of the RA Law "On state pensions".

"This allowed 6,097 people more to get their rights restored," he said.

The RA Ombudsman lodged a relevant claim last October. According to
him, the restrictions set by the law violated pensioners’ rights to
legal defense under the RA Constitution.

Armenian Assembly of America
1140 19th Street, NW, Suite 600
Washington, DC 20036
Phone: 202-393-3434
Fax: 202-638-4904
Email: [email protected]
Web:

PRESS RELEASE

October 2, 2008
Contact: Michael A Zachariades
Email: [email protected]
Phone: (202) 393-3434

ARMENIAN ASSEMBLY NAMES YEGHIG KESHISHIAN AS WESTERN OFFICE DIRECTOR

Los Angeles, CA – The Armenian Assembly of America (Assembly) is pleased
to announce the addition of Yeghig L. Keshishian as the Assembly Western
Office Director, effective immediately.

Keshishian will be responsible for increasing the Assembly’s grassroots
outreach and activities in California and the Western states, as well as
focus on development and membership initiatives in the region. Working
with Assembly headquarters in Washington, DC, Keshishian will also
implement the government affairs agenda with a specific focus on the
California delegation.

"Yeghig’s knowledge of the issues, coupled with his work experience and
first-hand knowledge of the legislative process, will prove beneficial
not only to the Assembly, but the community at large," said Assembly
Executive Director Bryan Ardouny.

Prior to joining the Assembly team, Keshishian served as an
International Policy Aide for Congressman Ed Royce (R-CA). Royce is an
active member of the Congressional Caucus on Armenian Issues, and strong
supporter of reaffirming the U.S. record on the Armenian Genocide. As an
original cosponsor of H.Res. 106, and a Member of the House Committee on
Foreign Affairs, Congressman Royce, along with Keshishian, countered the
genocide deniers in the historic vote in the Foreign Affairs Committee
last October. Additionally, during his tenure with Royce’s office,
Keshishian worked diligently with Rep. Royce to bring attention to
Azerbaijan’s military build-up, ongoing war-mongering against Armenia,
and conflict with U.S. policy objectives in the region.

"The Armenian Assembly has a 36-year track record of non-partisan
advocacy and raising awareness on Armenian-American issues," said
Keshishian. "I will continue to expand upon the Assembly’s success
within the community, reach out to all those who share a vision of a
strong, vibrant and democratic Armenia, as well as help strengthen the
U.S.-Armenian relationship."

Keshishian is a graduate of University of Southern California’s School
of Policy, Planning & Development, and New York University’s and
Columbia University’s joint graduate program in European Studies.

Established in 1972, the Armenian Assembly of America is the largest
Washington-based nationwide organization promoting public understanding
and awareness of Armenian issues. The Assembly is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt
membership organization.

###

NR#2008-070

SAAKASHVILI CALLS FOR EASING OF VISA RULES WITH ARMENIA

Civil Georgia
30 Sep.’08 / 18:33
Georgia

President Saakashvili called for the simplification of visa rules
between Georgia and Armenia, saying it would improve relations between
the two countries.

"The Georgian-Armenian border should be and it already is the border
of friendship," Saakashvili said at a joint press conference with his
Armenian counterpart, Serzh Sarkisyan, in Tbilisi on September 30. "We
have agreed to work more closely. I have instructed the ministers of
finance and economy to visit Yerevan in order to ensure that border
crossing procedures are as simple as possible."

He said that the two countries would work jointly to boost bi-lateral
economic ties, in particular through the construction of new roads
linking the two countries.

Saakashvili also said that he and Sarkisyan had agreed to set
up a consortium to attract funds for the construction of a new
transit highway through the Goderdzi Pass in the Adjaran Autonomous
Republic. He added that the road, the construction of which will take
several years, will half the traveling time from Armenia to the Black
Sea region.

He also thanked the Armenian president for expressing support for
Georgia’s territorial integrity.

"I think that recent developments in Georgia have clearly demonstrated
how important regional cooperation is, how everybody suffers from
problems and conflicts and how important it is to solve all the issues
quickly," Saakashvili said.

He also said both countries were close to finalizing work on border
delimitation and "practically there are no unsettled issues there."

"I am sure that the future of the Caucasus is in the creation of a
uniform market, the creation of uniform human, cultural and economic
spheres, close cooperation with other countries of the region. Of
course, before coming to that, we should settle the existing problems,
but I am sure that all these problems can be settled," Saakashvili
added.

The Armenian president said at the press conference that the two
countries have more room to improve bilateral cooperation. He stressed
that Georgia’s stability was very important for Armenia.

The Armenian president also emphasized that existing problems could
not be settled through military intervention. "We all understand that
the Caucasus is a small region, but it is a very sensitive area, as
interests are intercrossed here and we should do our best to ensure
that these interests are used in favor of our peoples," President
Sarkisyan said at the press conference.

UN SEC. GEN. HAILS SARGSYAN’S FOOTBALL DIPLOMACY

PanARMENIAN.Net
27.09.2008 14:10 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Armenia’s President Serzh Sarsgyan met in New York
with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to consider a number of regional
problems, including Nagorno Karabakh and Armenian-Turkish relations,
the RA leader’s press office reported.

Mr Ban hailed President Sargsyan’s football diplomacy and voiced
readiness to facilitate normalization of the Armenian-Turkish
relations.

THE ULTIMATE FIGHTER 8 EPISODE 2 RECAP

MMARINGREPORT.COM
Wednesday, 24 September 2008

The Ultimate Fighter wasted no time in getting to the action,
announcing the winners from episode 1, and pushing right into the
fights that would determine the final 8 spots in the TUF house.

The first fight was a spirited one with England’s Wesley Murch taking
on John Polakowski in a lightweight bout. In an interesting start
Polakowski’s pre-fight jingle included a bit about how he loves
to hug people. "I am giving hugs to everyone, I is so much fun,"
he said. Weird.

There was no hugging during the bout and Polakowski landed a nice
punch that stunned Murch in the opening moments of the match. Murch
got back on track with a takedown and some nice ground and pound but
instead of continuing with the ground assault he fell back for an
ankle lock and it proved to be a mistake. As the round closed Murch
was cluching his leg and wincing in pain and it appeard that he would
not be able to continue, he gutted it out and tried to fight in the
second but he collapsed and the bout was called.

Shane Primm was confident coming into his bout with Sean O’Connell
saying "trapped in a cage with me, that is one of the worst places
you can be." While he preflight spiel appeared pompous, he was able
to back it p in the Octagon with a rear naked choke win in the first
round of their preliminary bout.

In Lightweight action Efrain Escudero took Ian Pariente to the ground,
locked in a rear naked choke/neck crank against his opponent and took
the qick submission victory.

Tom Lawlor defeated his opponent Ryan Lopez by rear naked choke early
in the first round to advance into the house. Lopez who described
himself as a "bounty hunter by day, and fighter by evening" could
have used a gun in his fight because it was over quickly and Lawlor
advanced into the next phase of the TV show.

George Roop took a heavily edited fight by decision over Roli Delgado

Ryan Bader had trouble with the stand up in the early goings against
Kyle Kingsley but the 2-time All American eventually took the fight
to the ground to get into his comfort zone in the second part of the
first stanza. Despite that according to Frank Mir, Kyle Kingsley took
the first round in another bout that was heavily edited and impossible
to judge from watching the TV show.

The second round was a different story as Bader took the bout to
the mat right off the bat and secured an arm triangle choke that
finished Kingsley and sent Bader into the TUF house as one of the
early favorites to compete in the finals.

Shane Nelson defeated Charles Diaz in a bout that was almost completely
edited in a lightweight bout, and was described by Nogueira as one
of the best 155 guys in the house for his efforts.

The final bout featured a controversial decision as Karn Grigoryan
defeated Eliot Marshal via decision after three rounds.

Karn Grigoryan looked like the aggressor in the early goings and worked
the ground and pound off a failed takedown attempt by the lankier Eliot
Marshall and appeared to be in control. It didn’t stay that way and
following a reversal, Marshall took control with his jiu jitsu, taking
the mount, and back control en route to a strong finish to the round.

Grigoryan looked much slower off the hop in the early goings of the
second stanza and Marshall appeared more comfortable in the cage,
working his jabs and keeping his opponent at bay while Grigoryan was
content to throw haymakers. Marshall looked to be the fresher fighter
in the second and appeared to have won the fight after two rounds,
but the fight must have been tied at one round a piece in the eyes
of the judges, as the bout went to a third and final round.

In the third Grigoryan took the bout to the mat but Marshall
reversed with an Oma Plata to take the top position and eventually
the mount. Grigoryan was was game and re-reversed to get on top but
blood started pouring out of the face of the Armenian onto the chest
of Marshall.

Dana White, and Frank Mir both agreed that Marshall should have won
the fight but the judges felt differently as Grigoryan was given the
split decision. Despite the decision it was announced that Antwain
Brit broke his hand in his fight with Ryan Jimmo and because of the
controversial decision it was Marshall who was given another chance
by getting into the house.

Coming on Episode 3

With injuries it appears that Marshall is not the only one that is
going to be getting a second chance on the show following a loss. Clips
of fighting, drinking, and all the other malfeasance that is the
mainstay of the TUF shows appears to be alive and well in season 8

WILL YSU RECTOR BE DISCHARGED?

A1+
[12:19 pm] 24 September, 2008

Rumours are about that the Rector of Yerevan State University Aram
Simonian will be dismissed from office. At the beginning of the new
academic year Aram Simonian said "no one can discharge me but the
YSU Council."

The Head of the YSU Press Service, Karen Grigorian finds the rumours
about Simonian’s dismissal calumny.

Asked whether the gossips have a grain of truth, Karen Grigorian said,
"I see no grain of truth as the rumours are groundless. There is
no mention about the one who is going to relieve Simonian. Besides,
no reasons for the dismissal are given."

It is due to mention that the YSU Rector is elected and not
appointed. The Rector appoints the University Council comprising of
YSU professors, Government representatives, members of the Ministry
of Education and Science and students.