Author: nina hovnanian

SOCIAL
Le gouvernement dévoile son enveloppe d’aide pour les agriculteurs
frappés par la grêle

Les agriculteurs du sud de l’Arménie durement touchés par une violente
tempête de grêle seront exemptés de l’impôt foncier et des frais
d’irrigation et leurs dettes envers les banques commerciales seront
rééchelonnées, a déclaré jeudi le Premier ministre Tigran Sarkissian,
en dévoilant un plan d’aide approuvé par son cabinet.

Le gouvernement a annoncé une série de mesures visant à soutenir les
milliers d’agriculteurs de la province d’Armavir après avoir estimé à
25 milliards de drams (60 millions $) l’ensemble des dommages causés
par la grêle le 12 mai. La calamité a affecté 46 villages situés dans
la vallée fruitière de l’Ararat. Dans 22 d’entre eux, les cultures
telles que le raisin, les abricots et divers légumes ont été
complètement détruites, selon le cabinet présidé par M. Sarkissian.

Sarkissian a déclaré que les 22 communautés n’auront pas à payer de
l’impôt foncier le paiement des frais d’irrigation cette année. Les
agriculteurs des 24 autres villages seront partiellement exonérés de
ces paiements. L’ampleur des exemptions dépendra des pertes subies par
eux, a-t-il dit.

Le Ppremier ministre a ensuite annoncé que les banques commerciales
ont accepté de rééchelonner le remboursement des prêts consentis aux
agriculteurs touchés. Cela se fera au cas par cas, a-t-il dit.

« Les montants des prêts sont différents et il en sera dont aussi
ainsi en ce qui concerne les délais de remboursement », a expliqué M.
Sarkissian. « Tout le monde va certainement obtenir de l’aide auprès
des banques commerciales à la suite de négociations individuelles. »

Les encours de prêts sont une source importante de préoccupations des
agriculteurs. Beaucoup d’entre eux disent qu’ils n’auront pas
suffisamment de revenus pour les rembourser.

Sarkissian a également déclaré que les agriculteurs ayant subi des
pertes particulièrement importantes seront admissibles aux prestations
de solidarité envers la pauvreté versées à des dizaines de milliers de
familles arméniennes socialement vulnérables.

Le gouvernement a approuvé ce plan d’aide le lendemain de la visite de
Sarkissian venu à Armavir pour inspecter certaines des communautés
touchées et tenir une réunion avec l’administration provinciale. Le
premier ministre a affirmé que les agriculteurs présents à la réunion
ont accueilli favorablement ces mesures.

Des centaines d’agriculteurs ont organisé une série de manifestations
depuis le 12 mai pour exiger que le gouvernement les indemnise
financièrement pleinement pour les dégts de la grêle. Des
représentants du gouvernement régional et central ont cependant exclu
une compensation financière directe.

Sarkissian a laissé entendre que les agriculteurs ne pourraient
recevoir de l’argent qu’à partir d’un fonds spécial de secours mis en
place par le gouvernement. « Nous avons promis que les membres du
gouvernement vont également faire des dons à ce fonds », a-t-il dit. «
Nous allons également faire appel à tous nos collègues, à nos
concitoyens qui peuvent se permettre de venir en aide aux agriculteurs
touchés et de donner aussi à la caisse. »

Sergo Karapetian ministre de l’Agriculture a appelé les principaux
entrepreneurs de l’Arménie à contribuer au fonds dans des lettres qui
leur ont été adressées plus tôt cette semaine.

Dans au moins un village régional, Arevik, les agriculteurs ne se sont
pas montrés très enthousiastes au sujet de l’aide gouvernementale
promise. ` La taxe foncière n’est pas une grosse affaire, » a déclaré
l’un d’eux à RFE / RL (Azatutyun.am). « Le Premier ministre ne doit
pas penser qu’il nous donne une aide énorme. Quant à l’eau
d’irrigation, je suis un peu méfiant à ce sujet. `

« Supposons qu’ils gèlent les remboursements de prêts. Mais nous avons
besoin d’argent pour nous en sortir et faire des travaux agricoles
l’année prochaine », a fait valoir un autre résident d’Arevik qu’il
arrosait son champ de tomates battues par la grêle.

« Nous avons besoin d’aide financière », a insisté un autre
agriculteur, résumant l’état d’esprit dominant dans le village.

vendredi 24 mai 2013,
Ara ©armenews.com

IT and Telecom
| 24.05.13 | 11:38
Winged robots: ArmRobotics to hold drone contest final this weekend

NAZIK ARMENAKYAN
ArmeniaNow
By Julia Hakobyan
ArmeniaNow Deputy Editor

Artur Grigoryan proudly tells about the electronic parameters and
technical capabilities of his drone – the airplane of the Cadet model. On
Saturday, May 26, Grigoryan’s made drone, which can gather up to 80 km
speed per hour, will rise 200 meters above the ground toward a given
location, will identify the signs and set a reference-point, send an online
video during the flight, and will get back to the takeoff location.

Grigoryan’s aircraft will compete with other drones during the final
contest of the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle, organized by the Robotics
Development Project in Armenia – ArmRobotics. The competition will be held
in the training airport of Arzni town (Kotayk province) with five teams
competing for the first place and prize money of 500,000 dram (about
$1,250).

`The chances to win are high. I’ve put a lot of effort into this,’ says
Grigoryan, a 35-year-old electronic engineer. `This is the first unmanned
aerial vehicles I made, though I had been nurturing the idea for a long
time. Finally, I got a chance to move from virtual into real work. The
process was interesting; it was a serious engineering task. It took a month
to make it and a year for improvements.’

The co-maker of Cadet, Martin Matevosyan, the trainer at Armenia’s school
of aircraft modeling, gathered the body of the aircraft.

`The drone has a tank for about half a liter of fuel, which is enough for a
30-minute flight. The important tasks are launching a flight and holding
balance. During the flight I will be directing commands from the computer,
and at some point it will go into autopilot mode. It is really exciting to
see your work in practice,’ says Grigoryan, who took part in the early
stages of the contest, the last of which took part in November 2012.

The Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Contest is one of the Armenian Robots Open
Championship by ArmRobotics, the project, which was founded in 2008 by the
Union of Information Technologies Enterprises to develop the robotics
sector in Armenia. The ArmRobotics project involves the club, the
laboratory, Robotics 2 Business and other programs.

Starting next September, ArmRobotics (in cooperation with VivaCell-MTS,
Cronimet Charity Foundation, World Vision Armenia and Counterpart
International Armenia) will set up robotics hobby groups in 50 educational
centers throughout Armenia, aiming to raise interest among teenagers
towards robotics and develop their engineering thinking.

`In the study groups participants will study how to design, program and
built robots,’ says Mariam Nahapetyan, the ArmRobotics manager. `Each study
group will be provided with one training robots, made by ArmRobotics and
components for another 3 robots. The schools that want to have a study
group should provide the teacher (usually an information science or physics
teacher) with a salary and a classroom. During the summer school teachers
will be trained.’

The programming of educational robots in the schools will be implemented
through Labview, Microsoft robotics studio programs.

`Today, there are a few robotic groups in Armenian school and the
experience shows that students show great interest in creating robots.
Besides it’s a very good experience and opportunity for those students who
choose exact sciences as a future specialty.’

One of the robotics study groups has for three years operated in the
Polytechnic basic college (high school) and now is attended by some 100
students from the college and other schools. It is noteworthy that half of
them are girls.

Ani Asatryan, an 11th-grade student of the college, is one of those who
know about robotics firsthand. The 16-year-old participated in the DigiTech
2012 expo and presented the robots made by her.

`There were three robots I made for the expo, one of them could recognize
colors, another one could navigate and the third one was a guitar player,’
says Asatryan. `Robotics is the sphere I want to be engaged in also in the
future, I am really interested in making robots. I have been fond of
modeling since childhood; while other girls were playing with dolls, I was
busy with construction sets. It’s thanks to my grandmother, a math teacher,
who worked a lot with me.’

Ani’s classmate Lilit Tamrazyan, a future programmer, says she attends the
group every day and spends at least two hours there.

`When sometimes I am asked if this is interesting for a girl, I answer:
`how can robotics be not interesting to someone?’ she says. `It is three
years that I have attended the group and I find the process extremely
interesting – from choosing a look and model of the robot, to its ability
and programming.’

ITAR-TASS, Russia
May 21, 2013 Tuesday 12:45 PM GMT+4

Russia to continue to contribute to Nagorno Karabakh settlement – diplomat

MOSCOW May 21

– Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Moscow will continue to
contribute to the Nagorno Karabakh settlement. He stated it after
talks with his Azerbaijani colleague Elmar Mamedyarov on Tuesday.

“We’ve discussed the problem of the Nagorno Karabakh settlement,” the
Russian diplomat said, “Russia is one of the three main international
mediators; we intend to continue to contribute to the parties’ search
for mutually acceptable solutions.”

APA, Azerbaijan
May 22 2013

Diplomatic source: `The co-chairs will offer the Presidents of
Azerbaijan and Armenia to meet in Saltsburg, June 12′

[ 22 May 2013 17:13 ]
The OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs will start their visit to the region today

Baku – APA. During the visit to the region, the OSCE Minsk Group
co-chairs will offer the Presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia to meet
in Salzburg on June 12, a diplomatic source told APA. The source noted
that Azerbaijan and Armenia have not agreed to hold a meeting yet. The
proposal on the meeting will be put forward to the Presidents during
the co-chairs’ visit to the region. The co-chairs will start their
visit today. They will arrive in Baku today. Following the meeting
with the country’s leadership they will leave for Yerevan. Armenian
“Graparak” newspaper reported that the meeting of the Presidents is
planned to be held in Saltsburg, June 12.

WorldBulletin.net, Turkey
May 22 2013

Lavrov: Current situation of Karabakh unacceptable

Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov said the current situation of Karabakh
issue cannot remain unsolved

World Bulletin/News Desk

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Wednesday that the
current situation of the Karabakh issue, unacceptable for both
parties, cannot remain unsolved.

Speaking at a press conference after his meeting with the Azeri
Foreign Minister Elmar Memmedyarov, Russian FM Lavrov touched upon
further developing bilateral relations by using platforms such as
“Russian-Azeri Interregional Forum” and “Baku International
Humanitarian Forum.”

The agenda of the meeting covered, as Lavrov said, enhancing the
economic, social and cultural relations between Russia and Azerbaijan,
and the Karabakh issue, the disputed region between southwestern
Azerbaijan and eastern Armenia.

Lavrov said, handling the Karabakh issue with his Azeri counterpart,
“The current situation of the Karabakh issue is unacceptable for both
parties. If the issue remains unsolved, it would mean the continuation
of the problem of Armenian economic embargo and the dispute on the
return of the Azeri territories.”

Reminding Moscow’s key role in solving the Karabakh issue and the
efforts towards sustaining talks in different formats since the 1994
armistice between Azerbaijan and Armenia, Lavrov described Russia’s
goal as the Co-Chair of the Organization for Security and Cooperation
in Europe (OSCE) Minsk Group as turning the statements of the parties
into concrete steps.

Lavrov also noted that the recent suspension of the Gabala Radar
Station (RLS) and Baku-Novorosiysk oil pipeline agreements did not
mean the bilateral relations were turning negative.

The Messenger, Georgia
May 22 2013

Flour imported from Iran to Armenia is deemed hazardous to health

Wednesday, May 22

Due to the absence of the supporting documentation, the 20,420
kilograms of flour cargo, which was imported from Iran to Armenia, a
cargo possession prohibition act was written at Armenia’s Agarak
border control point.

The cargo was inspected and sampled, the Armenian Agriculture
Ministry’s State Service on Food Safety informs.

As a result of laboratory testing, the samples were deemed hazardous
for use, and therefore the cargo was sent back on Monday.

Global Post
May 22 2013

Turkish-Armenian journalist jailed for blasphemy

An Istanbul court on Wednesday sentenced Turkish-Armenian journalist
Sevan Nisanyan to one year in jail for blasphemy over a blog
supporting a controversial anti-Islam film, the Anatolia news agency
reported.

The court found Nisanyan guilty of “publicly insulting the religious
values of part of the population” in a 2012 article over the
low-budget “Innocence of Muslims” which sparked protests across the
Arab world.

The case is the latest in a string of trials testing freedom of
expression in a country which has long sought to join the European
Union.

Nisanyan had given a spirited freedom of speech defence for the
“Innocence of Muslims”, which portrayed the life of the Prophet
Mohammed and touched on the themes of paedophilia and homosexuality.

“Mocking an Arab leader who centuries ago claimed to have contacted
God and made political, financial and sexual benefits out of this is
not a crime of hatred,” he wrote in his blog.

Prosecutors accused Nisanyan of “overstepping the boundaries of
freedom of speech and criticism” and said his article served to
“disturb public order.”

The journalist, who was not present at Wednesday’s hearing, was
sentenced to one year and 45 days in prison, higher than the usual
nine months, because the offence was committed through the media,
according to Anatolia.

In April, an Istanbul court ordered a retrial for world-renowned
pianist Fazil Say, who was sentenced to 10 months in prison for
allegedly inciting religious hatred and insulting Islamic values in a
series of tweets he posted last year.

fo/txw

Assyrian International News Agency AINA
May 22 2013

Scholar: Turkey’s Rejection of Genocide Evolves Into Mythmaking Process

Posted GMT 5-22-2013 18:4:3
Turkey has ‘condemned’ a move by the New South Wales Parliament to
recognize as genocide the Armenian, Assyrian and Greek deaths during
the Ottoman rule, the Assyrian International News Agency reported.

The Turkish Consul General in Sydney Gulseren Celik said “it’s not up
to individual governments to pass judgment on historical events that
occurred outside of Australia.”

Meanwhile, professor Vrasidas Karalis of The University of Sydney said
Turkey’s stance fails to bring justice to the millions of victims.

“Who is going to bring some justice and closure to the victims and the
descendants of the victims?” he said. “I think Turkey at this very
moment, with its very sterile rejection of every allegation, evolves
into a sort of mythmaking process for the state instead of looking to
the past with a fair and honest appreciation of what happened.”

Interfax, Russia
May 21 2013

Karabakh negotiations to accelerate in yearend – Azeri foreign minister

MOSCOW. May 21

Azeri Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov expects progress in the
Karabakh settlement after the Azeri election in the end of this year.

“I think as soon as we are through with elections, and the elections
are already over in Armenia and will end in Azerbaijan by the end of
this year, we should double or even triple our efforts for making a
breakthrough, progress in the settlement of this complex but solvable
conflict,” Mammadyarov told a press conference after negotiations with
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Moscow on Tuesday.

He also said Azerbaijan hoped to overcome stagnation at the
negotiations caused by elections in Armenia and Azerbaijan.
In turn, Lavrov said that Russia intended to continue promotion of the
Karabakh conflict settlement, in particular, in the capacity of an
OSCE Minsk Group cochairman.

“We are one of the three main mediators and we intend to continue
contributing to the sides’ search for mutually acceptable solutions
within the framework of our bilateral relations with Baku and Yerevan
and in the capacity of a country co-chairing the OSCE Minsk Group,”
Lavrov said.

Interfax, Russia
May 21 2013

Nagorno-Karabakh status quo unacceptable for all sides – Russian
foreign minister

MOSCOW. May 21

The status quo as a possible solution to the conflict over
Nagorno-Karabakh is unacceptable both for Russia and the two sides in
the conflict, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said.

“The status quo is unacceptable for Russia because they are our
neighbors, our friends, and stability and peace in the Caucasus are
among the priorities of Russia’s foreign policy,” Lavrov said at a
press conference after talks with Azeri Foreign Minister Elmar
Mammadyarov.

“The status quo means both the absence of a solution to the issue of
the Azeri territories’ return and an economic blockade of Armenia,” he
said.

“That is why there is no need to persuade anyone of the
unacceptability of this status quo, and the co-chairmen [of the OSCE
Minsk Group] are committed to the task of unblocking this situation,”
Lavrov said.

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