Category: News

ArmTech Congress’15, the 8th Global Armenian High Tech Business Conference will be held in Armenia from October 12 to 14 in Armenia and Artsakh.

The conference will be held under the patronage of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia.

It is expected to further expand the frontiers of Armenian high tech industry promotion and attract new participants and prominent representatives of the global technology community.

The Conference will bring together a wide range of high-tech industry business leaders and corporate executives, representatives of universities, research centers and related global organizations and government officials from Armenia, the U.S., Russia, European Union, CIS countries, the MENA region, South-East Asia.

The event will focus on Armenian high tech industry’s current and future successful participation in a dynamic global economy, its immense potential for development and exceptional proposals for joint venture and investment.

Jurgen Klopp has been appointed Liverpool’s new manager on a three-year deal, the BBC reports.

The 48-year-old German replaces Brendan Rodgers, who was sackedon Sunday after three and a half years in charge with the club 10th in the Premier League.

Klopp has been out of work since May, when he ended a seven-year spell at Borussia Dortmund to take a sabbatical.

He is expected to have Zeljko Buvac and Peter Krawietz – his former assistants at the Bundesliga club – at Anfield.

Armenian Deputy Foreign Minister David Tonoyan received today Ambassador Pierre Andrieu, French Co-Chair of the OSCE Minsk Group.

Issues related to the situation at the Armenian-Azerbaijani border and the line of contact were discussed.

David Tonoyan briefed Ambassador Andrieu on the details of the increased tensions at the line of contact and the consequences of ceasefire violations by Azerbaijan.

The parties stressed the inadmissibility of further tension at the frontline and emphasized the importance of demonstrating a constructive approach in the negotiation process.

The interlocutors exchanged views on the establishment of an atmosphere of trust and the perspectives of maintenance of the ceasefire regime.

 

 

 

President of the Venice Commission Gianni Buquicchio has said Armenia’s draft Constitutional reforms are a step forward towards further development of democracy.

He said the document has been positively assessed by the Venice Commission, but stressed the importance of organizing the referendum in a free, fair and transparent way.

Mr. Buquicchio has arrived in Armenia to participate in an international conference organized by the Constitutional Court.

President of the Armenian Constitutional Court Gagik Harutyunyan, head of the professional commission on Constitutional reforms said everything will be useless, if the referendum is not held in compliance with the letter and spirit of the law.

The Corning Centre will be presenting an audio-visual exhibit titled “Canada, We Thank You” at Toronto City Hall from October 22 to 28. ​An opening ceremony and public reception will take place on Thursday, October 22, Horizon Weekly reports.

The exhibit is dedicated to Canada’s humanitarian contributions before, during and after the Armenian Genocide. While at the exhibit, visitors will have an opportunity to learn about various individuals, families and institutions that played active roles in humanitarian efforts in the Ottoman Empire.

The Corning Centre’s 100 Voices Project will also be featured at the exhibit, where visitors will get a chance to view several interviews.

Regional Program “Public Financial Management in the South Caucasus” of Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH has signed a co-financing agreement with the EU Delegation to Armenia for the “Strengthening the Independence, Effectiveness and Transparency of the Armenian External Audit system”. The contribution to the Program form EU is 880 thousands Euro which was equal to 458.576.800 AMD on date of concluding the contract. The overall objective of the above-mentioned cooperation between the Chamber of Control, the European Union and GIZ is strengthening the independence, effectiveness and transparency of the Armenian External Audit System. The specific objectives target at to align the processes of Performance Audit and Audit of the Government’s Annual Budget Execution Report as well as the related follow-up mechanisms with INTOSAI Standards and European good practice.

The cooperation to achieve these ambitious results is ongoing and necessary introductory steps have been carried out. The Chamber of Control, the EU Delegation and GIZ have agreed to create a structure for the joint steering and monitoring of the cooperation and hence to raise its effectiveness. The basis for the steering structure will be a Memorandum of Understanding assuring the close cooperation of all parties in all relevant areas of responsibility to achieve the following three accumulated results:

1. A standardized assessment that provides detailed information for future evidence-based reform planning as an output of the standard analysis and assessment of the external audit environment (legislative framework, key Public Financial Management  actors, communication between Executive, Parliament and Civil Society) and the Chamber of Control itself (capacities, procedures, regulations, etc.);
2. Capacity and methodology development to conduct INTOSAI Standards compliant audits;
3. Regulatory framework and practices of the external control system reviewed and aligned with INTOSAI Standards and European good experience.

The realization of the planned objectives is envisaged for the time period till March 2017 and regular steering meetings are preliminary scheduled on December 2015 and March, June, September and December 2016.

The government will allocate AMD 66 million to the Governor’s Office of Tavush Province to reimburse for the losses residents of the frontline villages suffered as a result of Azeri shelling in September. The decision was approved at the cabonet sitting today.

The government also ruled to provide another AMD 25 million to the Ministry of Urban Development and Tavush Governor’s Office for the construction of a new bridge over Debed River.

According to another decision, unemployed mothers will receive maternity benefits from January 1^st, 2016. This will cost the state budget AMD 4 million.

FIFA has provisionally suspended its president Sepp Blatter, secretary general Jerome Valcke and vice-president Michel Platini for 90 days, the BBC reports.

Former FIFA vice-president Chung Mong-joon has been banned for six years and fined 100,000 Swiss Francs.

The punishments were handed out by the ethics committee of football’s world governing body.

Blatter, Valcke and UEFA president Platini are being investigated by the committee over corruption allegations.

“The grounds for these decisions are the investigations that are being carried out by the investigatory chamber of the ethics committee,” it said in a statement.

The three are banned from any football activity in the interim. They deny any wrongdoing.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, angered by Russian incursions into Turkish air space, has warned Russia there are other places Turkey could get natural gas and other countries that could build its first nuclear plant, the Hurriyet Daily News reports.

“We can’t accept the current situation. Russia’s explanations on the air space violations are not convincing,” the Turkish daily Sabah and other media quoted Erdogan as telling reporters as he flew to Japan for an official visit.

Russia is Turkey’s largest natural gas supplier, with Ankara buying 28-30 billion cubic meters (bcm) of its 50 bcm of natural gas needs annually from Russia. Other major suppliers are Iran and Azerbaijan, with a small amount planned from Turkmenistan.

Turkey commissioned Russia’s state-owned Rosatom in 2013 to build four 1,200-megawatt reactors in a project worth $20 billion, although a start date for what will be Turkey’s first nuclear power plant has not yet been set.

Erdogan said he was resentful over the Russian intervention in Syria, which Turkey sees as its own backyard, but did not currently plan to speak to President Vladimir Putin.

“These are matters for Russia to think about. If the Russians don’t build the Akkuyu (nuclear plant) another will come and build it,” he was quoted as saying.

“We are Russia’s number one natural gas consumer. Losing Turkey would be a serious loss for Russia. If necessary, Turkey can get its natural gas from many different places.”

The 1st European Universities Chess Championship kicked off in Armenia today. The event has brought together 25 university teams from nine countries.

Armenian Minister of Education and Science Armen Ashotyan said in his opening remarks “it’s an honor for Armenia to host the first European Universities Chess Championship.”

“We are an exceptional country to have won the Chess Olympiad three times, an exceptional country, where chess is taught in schools a s a compulsory discipline,” the Minister said.

“Chess has become part of our national pride,” he added.

“It’s an honor to be the first European capital to host the Universities Chess Championship,” the Minister stated.

Team from Poland, Russia, Portugal, France, turkey, Croatia, Serbia, Slovenia and Armenia are participating the championship.