Russian President Vladimir Putin may pay an official visit to Armenia at the end of the year, from October to December, Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan said on Thursday, adding that details with the exact dates are currently being worked out
DUSHANBE (UrduPoint News / Sputnik – 12th May, 2022) Russian President Vladimir Putin may pay an official visit to Armenia at the end of the year, from October to December, Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan said on Thursday, adding that details with the exact dates are currently being worked out.
“The issue of organizing an official visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin is on our agenda now. There is an understanding that this will happen in the second half of this year, from October to December. Of course, we are still to agree on the dates,” Mirzoyan said at a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
Investigators Demand Arrest Of Driver In Armenian Leader’s Cortege For Hitting Woman
YEREVAN (UrduPoint News / Sputnik – 12th May, 2022) Investigators have demanded the arrest of a driver involved in a fatal road traffic accident in Armenia’s Yerevan in April, when one of the cars escorting the cortege of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan hit a pregnant woman, Raffi Aslanyan, the victim’s lawyer, said on Thursday.
The accident took place on April 26, when Pashinyan’s motorcade was driving through Yerevan. The next day, video footage of the fatal accident appeared on social media, showing that a police vehicle hit a pregnant woman, Sona Mnatsakanian, at the intersection of Leo and Paronyan streets. Prime Minister’s Deputy Chief of Staff Taron Chakhoyan said that Pashinyan found out that it was his escort car that had caused the accident only after arriving at the Armenian parliament.
“Today, the investigator issued a decree on the involvement of the vehicles’ driver escorting the traffic police as being accused under the articles of ‘Violation of requirements intended for ensuring road safety, or traffic rules or operation of vehicles’ and ‘Leaving the site of a traffic accident.’ The driver was detained again, and a motion for his arrest was submitted to the court,” Aslanyan said on his social media.
The lawyer also said that he represents the interests of the victim’s father, adding that the affected party will be consistent in disclosing all the circumstances of the incident and ensuring that those responsible will be brought to justice.
Deputy PM: Railway connection with Iran among Armenia’s priorities
PanARMENIAN.Net – Deputy Prime Minister Mher Grigoryan has said that establishing a railway connection between Armenia and Iran is among Yerevan’s priorities.
Grigoryan made the remarks at the 17th meeting of the Armenian-Iranian intergovernmental commission in Yerevan Wednesday, May 11.
“We attach great importance to agreements reached in the field of energy and transport, in particular, on the extension of the contract for gas and electricity swap deal, the establishment of the North-South quadrilateral energy connection and the Persian Gulf-Black Sea international transport corridor,” Grugoryan said.
“I would like to emphasize the fact that as a result of the work of our expert groups, further guidelines for cooperation between our two countries in a number of areas have been developed. Both sides have expressed readiness to develop cooperation in the fields of trade, industry, healthcare, education, culture, tourism, agriculture and high technologies.”
Grigoryan noted that Armenia is constantly making efforts to promote Iran’s integration into the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU).
The next cycle of Young Aurora now open
Aurora is delighted to announce that the next cycle of Young Aurora is now open. Presented by the Aurora Humanitarian Initiative in partnership with the United World Colleges (UWC) and with the participation of Teach for All and the African Leadership Academy (ALA), this annual competition provides student teams from UWC and ALA with an opportunity to enter project proposals that tackle pressing humanitarian issues affecting their school communities.
All proposals are evaluated according to their level of creativity, sustainability, quality of research and potential for impact. Three finalists are then chosen to present their ideas and plans to a panel of highly accomplished humanitarians, entrepreneurs, and world leaders for the chance to win a $4,000 grant towards the further development of their project. All participating teams also benefit from personalized feedback and support to help refine and further develop their project plans.
Since 2017, Young Aurora has helped many student projects create a positive and long-lasting impact in their local school communities. Last year’s winners, students from Waterford Kamhlaba UWC of Southern Africa, are working in eSwatini to deliver their Seed of Hope project, designed to empower young people at Malindza refugee camp through the creation of a youth hub, serving as both an online education center and social space. Despite ongoing civil unrest in eSwatini, the Seed of Hope team impressed the judges with their unwavering commitment to improving the lives of refugees. They have since expressed the gratitude they feel for being able to bring such a project to life:
“We are extremely grateful to Young Aurora for enabling us to have hands-on experience of engaging in and positively transforming this community. Without this prize, our enthusiasm and commitment to change the lives of hundreds of young refugees would have remained just a dream, rather than a reality,” said Seed of Hope team member Prince Bashangezi (Democratic Republic of the Congo, WK UWCSA, 2020-2022).
Previous winning projects have included Beehive Divide (2020) from a team of students from UWC East Africa who constructed a beehive fence to address the human-elephant conflict in Sanya Hoyee village, Tanzania. There have also been many notable runners-up, such as Amaavasya (2018), which continues to enable women in Maharashtra, India, to engage in taboo-breaking conversations around the stigma of menstruation.
With varying COVID-19 restrictions still affecting some school campuses, this year’s program will remain online to encourage maximum participation. Aurora and its partners cannot wait to see what kinds of innovative and creative projects the UWC and ALA students will put forward this year.
Armenian Embassy in Ukraine resumes normal operations in Kyiv
The Armenian Embassy in Ukraine has resumed normal operations in Kyiv.
The Consular Service will again receive citizens at Ki Sichovich Striltsiv St. 51/50 from May 23, teh Embassy said on Facebook.
Due to security reasons, the employees of the Armenian Embassy in Ukraine were relocated from Kyiv to Lviv and Uzhgorod in early March.
Commission on delimitation and border security to meet in Moscow next week, Armenian FM says
The meeting of the commissions of Azerbaijan and Armenia on delimitation and border security is scheduled for next week in Moscow, Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan said on Thursday.
“I would like to inform you that we have talked with our Azerbaijani colleagues on the issue of creating commissions on delimitation and border security. And it seems that there is an agreement with Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Alexei Overchuk that there is going to be a meeting on opening of regional communications in Moscow on May 16-17, and there is also an agreement that a bilateral meeting on delimitation and border security will be organized on the same days in Moscow,” Mirzoyan said at a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
Under an agreement reached at a meeting held on April 6 in Brussels with the participation of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and European Council President Charles Michel, Baku and Yerevan were to form a joint commission on delimitation of the border, the first meeting was planned to be held before the end April.
Space Technologies and Armenia: What do we need to do and what do we lack?
The natural resources of planet Earth are far from endless, and therefore the future is not at all for the extraction of gas and oil, but for the development of space technologies and the conquest of space.
As the well-known astrophysicist Garik Israelyan noted in an interview with NEWS.am, in recent years, the interest in space technologies has increased significantly even among private companies, so the turnover in this area has increased unprecedentedly: more and more companies, both those who have long taken a stable place in the market, and start-ups – began to invest time and money in the construction of spacecraft, the development of various high-tech devices, laser communications, high-precision optics and artificial intelligence research.
The development of space technologies, according to the specialist, not only opens up new opportunities for the extraction of hard-to-reach resources from asteroids and other celestial bodies, and in the future for the colonization of other planets, but also affects many other related areas of science and industry: often developments in the field space technologies subsequently find application in many other areas. That is why these technologies deserve special attention today, and, as the astrophysicist noted, it would be good if Armenia did not lag behind these trends.
While Armenia, both at the state level and at the level of the private sector, shows little interest in this area, however, according to the astrophysicist, this does not mean at all that we are irretrievably behind and have no prospects. In the field of software development Armenia has a huge potential, as there are many talented programmers here.
But even in the field of hardware development, if we wish, we can easily reach considerable heights – this has already been confirmed by the experience of countries that have only relatively recently entered the field of space technology and have already achieved serious success.
For example, in Lithuania, a few years ago, NanoAvionics was founded, which was originally a spinoff of Vilnius University. Today it is Europe’s leading company engaged in the creation of satellite platforms and propulsion systems for satellites. The portfolio of this company already includes more than 110 successful satellite missions and commercial projects.
Similar success can be achieved by Armenian start-ups in the field of space technologies, he noted.
What is needed for this?
No, not a huge investment, although this is what many will think of in the first place. As the specialist noted, if you invest a lot of money in science, it will change little if there is nothing else that is necessary for its development.
“If we invest, say, 100 million in our science, will something change? Of course not. Who will work in this area? Do we have so many quality workers? No. And so the efficiency of using these 100 million will be very low. Just going and investing a lot of money in science without doing anything else is like installing a good telescope in a place where the sky is almost invisible,” said the astrophysicist.
What is really needed in order for science to develop in Armenia and for companies working in the field of space technologies to begin to appear?
First of all, of course, we need specialists who can work in these companies. And in order to have such specialists in the country, it is necessary to seriously deal with the education system.
As Garik Israelyan noted, children need to be interested in science from the school desk: this requires both high-quality training courses and good teachers who can interest children and instill in them a love for learning and science. However, it is not enough to have a couple of good schools – it is necessary that the entire education system be up to par.
Universities will also need reforms: good teachers, relevant departments, interesting courses – all this is necessary so that smart children can receive a quality higher education after school.
The third step is perspective. Where will future physicists, astrophysicists and other specialists work? What can make them devote their lives to science, and not go to other areas where you can earn more?
Those who are interested in theoretical areas of science should have the opportunity to work in university or research centers. Such centers should not only be available in the country, but also offer competitive salaries. The creation and maintenance of such centers usually lies on the shoulders of the state.
As for the private sector, its development will already attract those who want to engage in applied science and participate in specific developments. If such companies begin to appear in the country, and young people see that it is also possible to work and earn money in this area, more and more people will want to do science, and all this will finally lead to serious changes in the country.
Diaspora Armenians join opposition fight
The Armenians of the Diaspora join the struggle of the opposition, in the name of saving Artsakh and changing the government.
During today’s rally at France Square in Yerevan, video messages from Armenians from around the world were presented, who expressed their support for the opposition. Video messages were, in particular, from different cities of Russia, Spain, the US, Syria and other states.
CivilNet: Metagait uses virtual reality and other devices to rehabilitate Armenian soldiers
Sports: Mourinho claims he and Henrikh Mkhitaryan proved Man Utd critics wrong
Jose Mourinho insists he and Henrikh Mkhitaryan have proved their critics wrong by repairing their relationship at Roma this season, Daily Mirror reports.
It appeared to be a foregone conclusion that the Armenian would find a new club last summer with his contract running out due to his frosty relationship with ‘The Special One’ at Manchester United as the Portuguese manager replaced Paulo Fonseca at the Stadio Olimpico.
The midfielder spoke last year about how difficult it was to work under Mourinho when they were at United. Little did he know, the Portuguese was going to be unveiled as his new manager at Roma just weeks later.
But the pair settled their differences as Mkhitaryan penned a contract extension and has gone to be a key player under Mourinho, helping Roma reach the Europa Conference League final.
And Mourinho insists it gives him great pleasure that they have been able to silence the doubters and was quick to remind them that they won three trophies together at Old Trafford, which have turned out to be the club’s last three pieces of silverware.
He told Sky Sports: “We won together three titles with Man Utd. Unfortunately it is the last three titles of Man Utd. I say unfortunately because I like the club very very much and I wish them the best. But we won three titles so everything went well, in the second season we were together things were different.
“The thing that makes me happy, in the beginning people go for a negative, and they were trying to say ‘Mkhitaryan with Jose has no chance, Jose is the kind of the guy that when things go wrong they never go well again’. It has been proven the opposite, we were very mature, very honest with each other.
“We all know that I try always to be honest with the players and I saw my project in Roma needing a player like Miki, I also understand his importance in the group. He’s having an amazing year, helping us cope with a small squad. He is playing everywhere – a winger, a 10, a central midfielder. I’m so happy with him and I’m happy with people understanding with me everything is not black and white.”