Author: Vardanian Garo

VAHAN HOVHANNISYAN ARF CANDIDATE?

A1+
[07:21 pm] 29 November, 2007

The number of presidential candidates who have appealed to the RA
Police department of Visa and Passports has increased. Today the
member of ARF Bureau Vahan Hovhanissyan, Chairman of the "National
Democratic Union" Vazgen Manukyan, RA citizens Hrachyan Sargsyan,
Myasnik Khachatryan and Mher Mkrtumyan appealed to the Department to
get certificates on the RA citizenship and permanent residence.

It should be reminded that the RA First President Levon Ter-Petrosyan,
Artashes Geghamyan, Israel Hakobkokhyan, Aram Karapetyan, Artur
Baghdasaryan, the Chairman of the "Heritage" party Raffi Hovhannisian,
the Chairman of the "National Conciliation" party Aram Harutyunyan,
the RA Prime Minister Serge Sargsyan, the Chairman of the "Democratic"
party Tigran Karapetyan and RA citizen Vardan Parakhchyan have already
appealed to the Department of Visa and Passports.

Only the Chairman of the "New Times" party Aram Karapetyan and the
Chairman of the "Heritage" party Raffi Hovhannisian were denied.

By the way, tomorrow the ARF session is to decide which of
the two candidates will be nominated – Armen Rustamyan or Vahan
Hovhannisyan. Since Vahan Hovhannisyan has appealed for the documents,
we may suppose that he will be the ARF presidential candidate.

November 30, 2007
Press Release
Western Prelacy of the Armenian Apostolic Church of America
H.E. Archbishop Moushegh Mardirossian, Prelate
6252 Honolulu Avenue
La Crescenta, CA 91214
Tel: (818) 248-7737
Fax: (818) 248-7745
E-mail: [email protected]
Website:

PRELATE TO PRESIDE OVER DIVINE LITURGY AT ST. GARABED CHURCH AND THE 25TH
ANNIVERSARY
OF THE SUNDAY SCHOOL

On Sunday, December 2nd, H.E. Archbishop Moushegh Mardirossian,
Prelate, will preside over Divine Liturgy and deliver the sermon on the
feast of the Apostles Sts. Thaddeus and Bartholomew at St. Garabed Church in
Hollywood. Archpriest Fr. Vicken Vassiilan will celebrate Liturgy.
After requiem services the Prelate will conduct the blessing and
official opening of the memorial cross-stone in the church courtyard.
Later in the day, the 25th anniversary of the church’s Sunday School
will be celebrated at "Karapetian" Hall. The Prelate will attend and
preside over the celebration which has been organized by the parish Pastor,
Board of Trustees, and Sunday School. Mr. and Mrs. Artur and Armine
Artenyan are the sponsors of the event which will feature performances by
Sunday School students.

CELEBRATING THE LIFE AND TIMELESS MESSAGE
OF KHRIMIAN HAYRIG

On the evening of Tuesday, November 27th, the Western Prelacy
commemorated the 100th anniversary of the passing of Khrimian Hayrig with a
lecture held under the auspices of H.E. Archbishop Moushegh Mardirossian,
Prelate, and organized by the Prelacy Outreach Committee. Over 500
faithful, including Religious and Executive Council members and
representatives of Prelacy parishes had gathered inside St. Mary’s Church to
hear Christian Education Department Co-Director Very Rev. Fr. Barthev
Gulumian speak on the life and timeless messages of Khrimian Hayrig.
Participating in the artistic program with songs were Hermine Amirian, Misak
Kayserian, and Armine Derderian on the organ.
The evening began with the Lord’s Prayer followed by welcoming
remarks by emcee Mrs. Tamar Seraydarian. V. Rev. Fr. Barthev spoke of
Khrimian Hayrig’s life, achievements and the legacy of his preaching,
teachings, and struggle for justice and the rights of our Armenian people.
V. Rev. Fr. Barthev then focused on the patriotic activities of
Khrimian Hayrig, reminding the listeners that his life was in essence a
struggle; a struggle against the oppressive regimes of tsarist Russia and
the Ottoman Empire, as well as against adversaries.
Closing remarks were delivered by the Prelate who first commended
the participants and the organizers of the event and continued by saying
that by knowing Khrimian Hayrig more closely we can become closer to God for
it was his devotion to God that drove him to faithfully serve his people and
to defend their rights. The Prelate concluded by saying that on this 100th
anniversary of the passing of Khrimian Hayrig now is the time for us all to
be renewed spiritually by his enduring messages. We must not shy away from
challenges, dutifully serve our church and people, and live our lives guided
by the ideal he set for us. The program concluded with the Prelate’s
benediction and "Giligia".

PRELATE ATTENDS APPRECIATION NIGHT OF
DAVIDIAN MARIAMIAN EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATION

On the evening of Tuesday, November 27th, the Davidian Mariamian
Educational Foundation had organized an appreciation night which took place
at Anoush Restaurant in Glendale. This year Mr. Gabriel Injejikian was
honored as "Educator of the Year"; Mr. Nigol Manoukian introduced the
honoree.
The invocation and remarks were offered by the Prelate, who was
accompanied by St. Mary’s pastor Rev. Ardag Demirjian. Also present were
assemblymen and community representatives and educators.
Remarks centered on the importance of the services of the foundation
to over a thousand students by providing Armenian language and culture
instruction.

WESTERN PRELACY PUBLISHES "MESROBAVEB"
BY JACQUES HAGOPIAN

The latest book by renowned poet Jacques Hagopian, "Mesrobaveb", was
published by the Western Prelacy on Friday, November 30. The book was
published in acknowledgment of the Pontifical declaration of 2007 as the
Year of the Armenian Language by H.H. Aram I, Catholicos of the Great House
of Cilicia.
The preface is comprised of the Pontifical Encyclical of His
Holiness and includes remarks by H.E. Archbishop Moushegh Mardirossian. The
book itself encompasses four sections of poems in honor of St. Mesrob
Mashdots and the Armenian language. A presentation of the book, which has
been sponsored by the Prelacy Ladies Auxiliary, is anticipated in the near
future. Please contact the Western Prelacy for ordering information.

TELETHON 2007: INNOVATIONS IN THE RELATIONS WITH THE DIASPORA

KarabakhOpen
30-11-2007 12:20:16

Karabakh-Open.com asked the head of the General Information Department
of the president administration Davit Babayan to comment on the
telethon held in the United States.

"Telethon 2007 became a landmark in the Armenian political life. This
telethon differs from the previous ones with both qualitative and
quantitative indices. In addition, the qualitative aspect reveals
more important tendencies than the quantitative aspect. Among the
quantitative indices the most notable is the sum of donations which
exceeded 15.2 million U.S. dollars, which is the highest result of
all the previous telethons. The geography of participants has also
enlarged.

As to the quality, there are a number of fundamental innovations. The
key one is the approach of the NKR government toward this pan-Armenian
event.

The NKR President did not focus on donations for the development of
Artsakh but on a more comprehensive involvement of our compatriots in
the Diaspora to life in NKR, their participation and influence on the
life of Artsakh and vice versa. This philosophy strongly influenced
the Diaspora. In fact, this telethon became a large round-table meeting
in which Artsakh and the Diaspora discussed their interrelations with
a focus on further development.

In this context, it is notable that this time small donations
of ordinary citizens rather than major donations of benefactors
comprised the bulk of this sum. It is evidence to wider involvement
of our compatriots in this event. By the way, Telethon 2007 was
the fourth fundraising event over the past three months. Similar
events were held by the Catholicos of All Armenians and a number
of organizations. However, our compatriots were not tired and
reluctant. On the contrary, a record high sum was raised," Davit
Babayan said.

"Information support of this telethon also differed from the previous
ones. The NKR citizens got information about the meetings and visits of
the NKR delegation. For the first time, a journalist accompanied the
president, there has been a TV report on the meetings in Russia and
France. Soon the TV report on the meetings in the United States will
be ready. Generally, the information policy is going to be essential
to the relations with the Diaspora. Contacts between Artsakh and the
Diaspora through the media, analysts and political scientists will
be maintained.

In fact, Telethon 2007 became the first step towards the development
of renewed relations between Artsakh and the Diaspora, and there is
every reason to suppose that they will develop into more fruitful
relations," Davit Babayan says.

CIRCUMSTANCES OF ATTAMT OF SELF-ARSON OF CITIZEN IN BUILDING OF REGIONAL ADMINISTRATION OF LORI BEING REVEALED

Noyan Tapan
Nov 30, 2007

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 30, NOYAN TAPAN. On November 28 a citizen wanted to
make a self-arson attempt by pouring petrol on himself in the building
of the regional administration of Lori. The citizen: Arshak A. born in
1963, was brought to the police section of Vanadzor, the circumstances
are still being revealed, preliminary investigation is underway.

EU COUNCIL OF MINISTERS APPROVED MISSION DEPLOYMENT IN KOSOVO

PanARMENIAN.Net
30.11.2007 15:32 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The EU Council of Ministers approved deployment
of a police and administrative mission in Kosovo till March 31,
2008. The mission will include court and customs employees and 1395
policemen. The EU will allocate 300 mln euros for a 2-year mission
in Pristina, RIA Novosti reports.

PM Serge Sargsyan, His Holiness Garegin II discussed state-church
interrelations

armradio.am
30.11.2007 18:15

RA Prime Minister Serge Sargsyan today met with the Catholicos of All
Armenians, His Holiness Garegin II at the Armenian Government,
Government’s Information and public Relations Department informs.

Issues related to state-church interrelations and cooperation were
discussed.

Kerkorian halts bid for shares
29 November 2007

by Howard Stutz
Las Vegas Gaming Wire

LAS VEGAS, Nevada — MGM Mirage majority shareholder Kirk Kerkorian
dropped his month-old bid to acquire additional shares of a San
Antonio-based petroleum refining corporation after the company’s board
adopted a poison-pill anti-takeover defense.
The 90-year-old Los Angeles billionaire, who already holds almost 4
percent of Tesoro Corp. through Tracinda, his wholly owned investment
subsidiary, sought to purchase an additional 16 percent stake in the
company for $64 a share, a cash tender offer of $1.4 billion. The
transaction was set to expire Dec. 6.
Last week, Tesoro’s board adopted a shareholder’s right’s plan that
reduced the likelihood that a potential purchaser could gain control
of the company through an open market accumulation of stock.
The Tracinda deal would not have triggered the plan because Kerkorian
would have held just less than 20 percent.
In a statement, Tracinda called the plan "Draconian" and "inhibits
value for all Tesoro shareholders by, among other things, restricting
the ability of shareholders to vote, sell or acquire Tesoro shares
freely."
Kerkorian, who controls 54 percent of MGM Mirage, has invested over
the years in the automotive, film and airline industries. This fall,
Kerkorian rose 19 places to No. 7 on the Forbes list of richest
Americans, with an estimated net worth of $18 billion, due largely to
investment gains from MGM Mirage.

MILLIONS THAT WERE WASTED
James Hakobyan

Lragir
Dec 3 2007
Armenia

When in 2006 Russia raised the price of gas for Armenia, and in order
to tackle the high price the fifth generating unit of the Thermal
Power Plant of Hrazdan was sold and 190 million of 250 million dollars
from the sale of the generating unit was directed at subsidizing gas,
the rulers of Armenia starting from Robert Kocharyan said thereby
they sustained the competitiveness of Armenian producers. In other
words, Russia made gas expensive for Georgia and Azerbaijan as well,
consequently gas became expensive for consumers there too. The same
happened in Armenia but since our government sells the fifth generating
unit and subsidized gas for three years for consumers, including for
producers, it turned out that for our producers gas is cheaper than
for producers in Georgia and Azerbaijan, therefore the cost of our
products should be lower. At first sight, it seems logical. Although
it is amazing that Georgia and Azerbaijan were not guided by the same
logic and did not sell any industrial unit to the Russians to subsidize
gas. But it is their business. Let us see how our business benefited.

As we view the official statistical picture of export and import
in Armenia, we see that import grows faster than import. Even if
we were eager, we would not say that this picture is the result of
competitiveness of our production. The government has its standard
explanation that industrial technology dominates import. In other
words, Armenia imports much technology to produce more and better.

But this explanation, to put it mildly, is not logical because not more
is produced. Consequently, either they import technology and change
their mind or it turns out that these are not industrial technology but
sausage, juice, detergent, shampoo and other goods imported in boxes
labelled technology. Hence, possibly some tax and customs juggling
takes place as well. Although importer do not need it because the
revaluation of the dram has turned import so profitable that even
if the importer has as much honesty as one millionth of the value of
import and pays all the taxes, import generates huge profit. However,
we should not forget about the violent force of habit. If a person
is used to avoiding taxes, he will not pay taxes even if someone else
gives him the money for taxes.

Hence, it appears that the industry of Armenia did not gain competitive
advantages in the past three years but became uncompetitive due to
the monetary policy of the government.

Consequently, the millions spent for subsidizing gas were wasted.

They did not serve the goal they had been assigned for. However, this
conclusion is true if we consider that the goal was to support industry
in Armenia. Meanwhile, there is doubt that the real goal is populism
in the pre-election period to show to people with a year to go before
the parliamentary election how caring the government is that it won’t
let the Armenian producers and consumers face Russia alone. It is not
accidental that the price of gas is now rumored to go up in mid-2008
because the money for the sold fifth generating unit is finishing. It
was expected to finish because at the moment when the money was paid
one dollar was 400 drams, now one dollar is 300 drams. Meanwhile, in
drams the price of gas almost has not changed, it has changed very
little, for industries it has not changed at all. In this context,
in 2009 the price of gas will go up in the world, in other words,
Russia is again going to raise the price.

"H1" DOES NOT PERFORM ITS FUNCTIONS"

A1+
[06:54 am] 03 December, 2007

"Both pro-government and oppositional forces of the Republic of Armenia
are confident that the presidential elections of February 19, 2008,
will have a dramatic impact on the country’s future.

Information availability is an important guarantee for free and
fair elections. Nowadays the press is not available for all strata
of the society. Television is still the main source of information
for most people.

Mass Media, especially the National TV Channel, are entitled to
broadcast multi-layer and unbiased information.

We are convinced that most of the RA TV Channels, including the
National TV Channel (H1), do not perform their functions to the
full. We, the undersigned, voice concern and indignation over the
current state of affairs"

Vahram Dumanian – Dean of Information Science and Applied Mathematics
of Yerevan State University (YSU), Associate Professor, Candidate of
Science of Physics and Mathematics,

David Sedrakian-Head of Chair, YSU, Doctor of Physics and Mathematics,
an academician of the National Academy of Science (NAS),

Hakob Hakobian, Doctor of Physics and Mathematics, YSU,

Arthur Sahakian- Head of Chair, YSU, Doctor of Physics and Mathematics,
Professor, a NAS correspondent ,

Yury Hakobian- Head of Chair, YSU, Doctor of Physics and Mathematics,
Professor,

Lyudmila Harutiunian – Dean of Sociology Faculty, YSU, Doctor of
Philosophical Science, Professor,

Hayk Ghazarian- Head of Chair, YSU, Doctor of Physics and Mathematics,
Professor,

Edward Chubarian- Head of Chair, YSU, Doctor of Physics and
Mathematics, Professor, a NAS academician,

Iskhan Khachatrian- Head of Chair, YSU, Doctor of Physics and
Mathematics, Professor,

Gurgen Hakobian- Head of Chair, YSU, Candidate of Physics and
Mathematics, Assistant Professor,

Valeri Martirossian-Head of Chair, YSU, Doctor of Physics and
Mathematics, a NAS correspondent.

MONUMENT TO WILLIAM SAROYAN TO BE ERECTED IN YEREVAN

armradio.am
16.11.2007 11:11

Next year a monument to world famous writer William Saroyan will be
erected in the square next to Moskovyan and Mashtots Avenues.

Chief Architect of Yerevan Samvel Danielyan told Armenpress that
the author of the monument is famous sculptor David Yerevantsi who
resides in France.

The opening of the monument is financed by the "All-Armenian
Geographical Association" NGO.