Category: News

Azeri pressure group protests at upcoming visit by Armenian minister
Trend news agency
31 Mar 04
BAKU
Trend correspondent S. Agayeva: The Karabakh Liberation Organization
[KLO] will prevent the Armenian education minister [Sergo Yeritsyan]
from attending a session of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation
Organization in Baku on 15-16 April, the KLO chairman, Akif Nagi, has
told Trend new agency.
It is unacceptable for a minister from the enemy country to
participate in the Baku session, Nagi said. The Azerbaijani
authorities must not let such a visit take place, he said. “Let the
Armenian education minister educate the jingoistic Armenian youth. He
has nothing to do here.”
The KLO intends to stage protest actions outside the buildings of
state bodies which organize the session, as well as outside the hotel
which will host the gathering.

USA not to deploy troops in Azerbaijan – US general tells Armenians
Mediamax news agency
31 Mar 04
YEREVAN
“The United States is proud that Armenia is our friend in the fight
against terrorism,” Director of Plans and Policy, Headquarters US
European Command, Maj-Gen Jeffrey B. Kohler said in Yerevan today.
Gen Kohler said that he expressed his gratitude to the leadership of
the Armenian armed forces for taking part in the peacekeeping
operation in Kosovo, our Mediamax correspondent reports.
The US EUCOM representative noted that Armenian servicemen would also
take part in the restoration of Iraq in the near future. He said in
particular that “at present we are discussing the stationing of
Armenian sappers in Iraq”.
Jeffrey Kohler said that he discussed bilateral Armenian-American
military cooperation with the Armenian defence minister and with the
chief of the general staff of the Armenian armed forces.
“We need some time to better understand the opportunities and
requirements of the Armenian armed forces,” the American general said.
Director of Plans and Policy, Headquarters US European Command,
Maj-Gen Jeffrey B. Kohler gave a high assessment of the actions of the
Armenian peacekeepers in Kosovo.
The American general pointed out that the Armenian servicemen showed
their worth during the recent outburst of violence in Kosovo.
“The Armenian people can be proud of their peacekeepers,” Jeffrey
Kohler said.
The US EUCOM representative recalled that the United States had taken
part in the training of the Armenian peacekeeping battalion. He said
in particular that the American side had organized courses for the
Armenian peacekeepers and provided them with equipment.
Gen Kohler also said that he discussed with the Armenian military
leadership the prospects for US assistance to the Armenian
peacekeeping battalion.
Jeffrey B. Kohler added that “the United States is not going station
its troops in Azerbaijan”.
The American general pointed out that “we do not have plans and needs
to station troops in Azerbaijan,” Mediamax reports.

A1 Plus | 15:01:44 | 31-03-2004 | Social |
“A1+” TV COMPANY WILL RESUME BROADCASTING THIS YEAR
“Banning “A1+” TV Company from broadcasting area is not just ceasing that TV
Company. It is much more. It means that there is a speech freedom problem in
Armenia”, Nikol Pashinyan, Editor-in-Chief of “Armenian Times” Daily
announced at the press conference of “Speech Freedom Support” Fund.
He added that the rally and the march on April 2 will be not only for “A1+”
TV Company defense but also for speech freedom in general.
SFSF member advocate Avetiq Ishkhanyan accused the public: “We all are to
blame for “A1+” cessation. We tolerated it and “A1+” has been out of air for
2 years”.
Another attorney, Vardan Harutyunyan said that by banning “A1+” speech
freedom in Armenia was restricted.
Ex-Editor of “Ayb-Fe” Daily Vasak Darbinyan confirmed the standpoint that
stopping “A1+” was of political reasons. “Aravot” Daily Editor-in-Chief Aram
Abrahamyan said that there is no politics in the measures on April 2.
Tigran Ter-Esayan, Chair of International Union of Advocates, talked about
2-year-long legal procedures “A1+” was involved in to gain administration of
justice. But justice can be expected only from the European Court of Human
Rights, he said. He added that there are 2 applications there and extra 2
will be sent by May. It will become clear in April whether “A1+” claim will
be put under jurisdiction or not.
The conference participants announced irrespective of Municipality decision
and “persuasions” of law-enforcement bodies, Fund will conduct the rally and
the march.
“A1+” TV Company Chair Mesrop Movsesyan said that the measure is as well of
symbolic character. He wants to prove all those who think “A1+” staff to be
dispersed that it is entire and no one has left. Just the operating
personnel found temporary jobs.
“We will work as long as the staff exists”, Mesrop Moveseyan says.
The organizers of April 2 measure announced that they will do their best to
achieve resuming “A1+” broadcasting.
“A1+” is to be opened by public demand”, Avetiq Ishkhanyan said.
For that purpose Edik Baghdasaryan, Chair of Investigating Journalists’
Association, called upon the journalistic society to partake in the measure.
—

A1 Plus | 14:06:22 | 31-03-2004 | Politics |
ALL THE RALLIES WILL SOON BE FORBIDDEN
Armenian Authorities took the first step to hamper the chances for holding
meetings, rallies and marches in the republic.
Parliament approved the bill on “Order for Holding Meetings, Rallies and
Marches” at the first reading. It was passed by 76 pros, 1 con and 0
abstaining.
Though Justice Minister promised that the bill wouldn’t be approved quickly
the procedure of discussing laws in Parliament proves that after passing a
bill at the first stage the rest 2 readings are held urgently as a rule.
So it can be supposed that the parliamentary coalition will manage to pass
the above restricted bill before rallies held for power change become
large-scale.
—

PRESS RELEASE
Date: March 30, 2004
Contact: Tania J. Chichmanian, ARKA Ballet
(301) 587-6225; [email protected]
SONA KHARATIAN RECEIVES INDIVIDUAL ARTIST AWARD FOR DANCE
Washington, DC – ARKA Ballet is pleased to announce that company regular
Sona Kharatian is the recipient of a Maryland State Arts Council Individual
Artist Award for Solo Dance for the Year 2004. The Maryland State Arts
Council (MSAC) Individual Artist Awards are awarded to Maryland artists
through an anonymous, competitive process to encourage and sustain their
pursuit of artistic excellence. A limited number of awards are offered
each year.
Miss Kharatian is a native of Yerevan, Armenia where she studied at the
Yerevan Choreographic Academy. She came to the United States in 1993,
pursuing her ballet training at the Kirov Academy of Ballet and the
Washington School of Ballet in Washington, DC. She is currently in her
fourth season with the Washington Ballet and is a founding member of ARKA
Ballet. Miss Kharatian has performed with Southern Ballet Theater, and was
featured at City Center’s Studio 5 and at the Piccolo Spoleto Festival. A
frequent guest artist, she has toured with the Kirov Ballet and was one of
the dancers chosen to perform in the Kennedy Center’s 25th Anniversary
Program “Suzanne Farrell Stages Balanchine”.
Miss Kharatian is an accomplished ballerina who has performed some of the
most important classical roles, such as Giselle and Myrtha in the romantic
ballet Giselle; Prelude in Les Sylphides; the role of Carlotta Grisi in Pas
de Quatre; Sugar Plum Fairy in Nutcracker, and many others. A beautiful
dancer with long, graceful lines, Miss Kharatian’s repertoire also includes
works by such 20th century choreographers as Balanchine, Forsythe, Choo San
Goh, McIntyre, Bujones, Vanucchi, Anastos and McCullogh, as well as many
works created especially for her by her father, the award-winning
choreographer, Roudolf Kharatian.
The award ceremony for the MSAC Individual Artist Awards for the year 2004
will take place later this spring. For more information about Miss
Kharatian and ARKA Ballet, please visit our website at
or contact Tania Chichmanian at (301) 587-6225 or
[email protected]
# # #

Armenian leader orders investigation into beating of rights activist
Mediamax news agency
31 Mar 04

YEREVAN
Armenian President Robert Kocharyan charged Prosecutor-General Agvan
Ovsepyan to investigate the attack on the Helsinki Association
chairman, Mikael Daniyelyan, and find the perpetrators of the crime,
the presidential press service told Mediamax today.
The chairman of the Helsinki Association of Armenia, Mikael
Daniyelyan, was beaten by unknown assailants near his house on the
morning of 30 March.

Armenian opposition leader issues ultimatum to authorities
A1+ web site
31 Mar 04

At a press conference today, [leader of the National Democratic bloc]
MP Arshak Sadoyan issued an ultimatum to the Armenian
authorities. Sadoyan is confident that the current situation in the
republic is fraught with bloody clashes, and the authorities will be
responsible for that.
The press conference was mainly devoted to the referendum on a vote of
no confidence, which under the Constitutional Court’s decision should
have been conducted by 16 April.
Until that period, parliament will have three sessions, i.e. from 12
to 14 April. Arshak Sadoyan said that the people has the right to urge
parliament and the president to accept the Constitutional Court’s
decision.
“If parliament does not adopt the decision, the people has the right
to urge clashes and civil disobedience,” the opposition deputy said.
Arshak Sadoyan believes that the opposition bloc, which is discussing
this prospect, will join his ultimatum. The deputy said that the
deadline for making the ultimatum public is very likely to be on 12
April.

A1 Plus | 21:36:04 | 31-03-2004 | Politics |
ARMENIAN PM IS NOT AFRAID OF OPPOSITION
Opposition and Authorities of Armenia will never come to terms since
Opposition will go for dialogue with Authorities only after power change and
Authorities don’t tolerate the idea of power change.
Andranik Margaryan doesn’t treat the conversations and statements over the
unstable and tensed situation in Armenia seriously: “I don’t think that
tension rises. There is some tension but it doesn’t endanger our
constitutional rights. If any individual or a party tries to take actions to
split stability of the state, it or he will be punished within law”.
—

Fresno stadium-area redevelopment OK’d
By Jim Davis
The Fresno Bee
March 31, 2004
A proposal for a $350 million to $400 million mix of housing, entertainment
and retailers in downtown Fresno won unanimous support Tuesday from the
Fresno City Council.
Forest City Enterprises envisions the development on 85 acres southeast of
Grizzlies Stadium. The project could include a lake, a river walk or a
series of fountains.
“We believe in downtown Fresno,” said Andres Freedman, project developer
with Forest City. “We believe it has a lot of potential, but we need to do a
lot of due diligence.”
The Fresno City Council told its staff to negotiate an exclusive agreement
with Forest City to develop in the area.
With an exclusive right to develop the area, Freedman said, Forest City can
start environmental, traffic and other studies and contact potential tenants
for the area. He said his company believes the area can be redeveloped.
“Market studies suggest that there’s a great opportunity,” Freedman said.
Council Member Tom Boyajian said the council hoped its decision to build the
baseball stadium would spur development in downtown.
“I was hoping that we would be able to attract someone to the dance like
you,” Boyajian said.
But property owners in the area and other residents expressed concerns about
the project’s impact.
Larry Kragh, president of Arrow Electric Motor Service, which is in the
study area, said his business has supported the city for years. He asked
that the city assist business owners who could be affected by the
development.
“Don’t make me pay for this project,” Kragh said.
The project would be in an area generally bounded by Union Pacific Railroad,
Van Ness Avenue, Tulare Street and Freeway 41.
Forest City Enterprises, a real estate company based in Ohio, is a property
owner and partner in the MarketPlace at River Park shopping center in north
Fresno.
The company is one of the nation’s largest of its kind and has developed
urban centers throughout the country, said Dan Fitzpatrick, executive
director of the city’s Redevelopment Agency.
Fitzpatrick said the company is looking at redeveloping a large area of
downtown.
“The area we’re talking about is as big as Universal Studios,” Fitzpatrick
said. “It’s as big as Old Town Pasadena.”
Fitzpatrick said redeveloping the area could be a boon for the city in many
ways, including more property taxes as property values rise.
The project — known as the South Stadium project — will be sandwiched
between two other major downtown developments.
To the west, a development group has proposed building hundreds of homes and
adding retail and commercial shopping to the historic Chinatown district.
To the east, Gunner-Andros Investments plans to build Old Armenian Town, a
series of high-rise office buildings anchored by a state appellate
courthouse.
City staffers are expected to return a negotiated agreement with Forest City
in 45 days.
The reporter can be reached at [email protected] or 441-6171.

Center of Excellence: Bright perspectives of becoming a regional hub of RFID
technologies
SiliconArmenia Mar 31, 2004 8:43 AM
Today, the State Engineering University of Armenia honored the renowned
guest Mike Ohanian at the dedicated session of the Scientific Council headed
by Yuri Sarkissyan, the President of SEUA.
This is not the first time when Mike Ohanian visits Armenia. His mission of
introducing Bar Coding and Radio Frequency Identification Technology (RFID)
is challenging and aligned with the long-term development of Armenian
economy.
“My dream is to establish a regional Center of Excellence for RFID
Technology. And the major goal of mine is to introduce this innovative
technology to the Armenian students and academics who will be the first to
gain knowledge on this subject in the entire region, including CIS
countries.” – says Mike Ohanian.
In fact, this initiative started years ago when Mr.Ohanian met Artashes
Toumanian, the Chief of Staff to the President of Armenia who assisted in
getting the message to the Government. Moreover, Mike Ohanian received a
letter with words of support from Andranik Markaryan, the Prime Minister of
Armenia, encouraging him to continue working with universities on the
initiative. “We worked very diligently on this matter and as a result the
Government expressed its interest in supporting this idea. We want to go
further by establishing also manufacturing of RFID products/services.” –
noted Mike Ohanian. According to him, there will be a huge potential for
RFID products and services in Russia, Caucasus region and other CIS states,
the Middle East and Eastern Europe.
Mike Ohanian also told about the background of Bar Coding and Automatic
Identification Technologies (AIT). Originally started in the United States,
they then spread to the Europe and other countries of the world. Universal
standards for RFID have been elaborated and put into place to ensure the
smooth development and application and wider adoption by businesses.
“What is unique about RFID is that it can be used virtually by all
industries. And quite naturally, the bright prospects of RFID are backed
with the fact that this technology is used virtually throughout the entire
supply chain i.e. starting from the design and manufacturing of the products
and ending with the final delivery of the goods to consumers.” – says Mike
Ohanian.
“My vision is to empower Armenian students with the knowledge as we have a
unique chance to join those few countries where Universities deliver courses
on RFID. The forerunner is the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
and then followed by UK’s Cambridge University and leading universities in
Switzerland, China, Australia and Japan.
“Of course these developments would not happen by themselves and I am very
happy that we have got many cohorts backing our efforts. I am a member of
the Armenian High-Tech Council of America, which is a Boston based
membership organization of Armenian High-Tech executives in the US (AHTCA).
This organization has started ICT series of seminars and workshops through
cooperative agreement with SETA/USAID, jointly run with Enterprise Incubator
Foundation, AHTCA and others. One of the seminars was dedicated to
introduction of RFID technologies. I greatly acknowledge the assistance and
encouragement provided by Berge Ayvazian, the President of AHTCA and Bagrat
Yengibaryan, the Director of EIF.” – said Mike Ohanian.
“Some members of AHTCA maintain close ties with MIT, and if we manage to
take the lead in developing and delivering academic courses in the region it
is much more likely that MIT will allow us to use their information
technology and resources, which will be very beneficial considering the vast
experience of MIT in teaching and research of this discipline.
I strongly hope that our students will take an interactive and proactive
approach to our initiative proposing their own ideas and innovations. I look
forward to more regular visits to my motherland Armenia, contributing to the
overall process, involving the industry and reaping together the fruits of
our joint work.” – said Mike Ohanian concluding his speech.
The session of the Scientific Council culminated by the honorable award of
Mike Ohanian with the Golden Commemorable Medal in recognition of his
contribution of the Automatic Identification Technologies laboratory to
SEUA.
About Mike Ohanian:
Michael Ohanian is the Retired President of Intermec Technologies, Everett,
Washington, the largest bar code company in the global industrial market. He
is Electrical Engineer by profession and is a leading expert in
microelectronics and AIT technologies. He holds numerous patents.
Mike Ohanian is knowledgeable in the Russian AIT marketplace and serves as a
member on the Board of Trustees of Merrimack College, North Andover, MA. He
is also the RFID Technology Advisor to several US and Canadian companies.
RFID Development Timeline:
———————————
1940s – Radar refined and used major World War II effort
1948 – Harry Stockman invents RFID, with the publication of his paper
“Communication by Means of Reflected Power.”
1950s – Early explorations of RFID technology
1950s – D.B. Harris patents “Radio transmission systems with modulatable
passive responder”
1959 – Friend or Foe (IFF) long-range transponder system reaches breadboard
demonstration stage
1960s – Development of the theory of RFID. Start of applications field
trials
1963 -1964 – R.F. Harrington advances theory with “Field measurements using
active scatterers” and “Theory of loaded scatterers”
1966 – Commercialization of EAS, 1-bit Electronic Article Surveillance
technology: Checkpoint, Sersormatic
1970s – Explosion of RFID development. Tests of RFID accelerate. Early
adopter implementations of RFID.
1973 – Transponder system and apparatus
1975 – Los Alamos Scientific Laboratories (LASL) releases its RFID research
to public sector, publishes “Short-range radio-telemetry for electronic
identification using modulated backscatter”
1975-1978 – Large companies, e.g. Raytheon, RCA, and Fairchild, develop
electronic identification systems
1977 – Electronic license plate for motor vehicles
1978 – Electronic detection and identification system
1979 – First implantable RFID tags.
1980s – Commercial applications of RFID enter mainstream.
1982 – molded-neck collar EID
1984 – Radar apparatus for detecting and/or classifying an agitated
reflective target. Batteryless, portable, frequency divider useful as a
transponder of electromagnetic radiation. Animal feeding and monitoring
system
1985 – Electronic proximity identification system. Electronic tag
identification system. Remote passive identification system. Implant
telemetry system.
1986 – Glass-encased injectible EID.
* First RFID toll collection system implemented in Norway
1990s Emergence of standards. RFID widely deployed. RFID becomes a part of
everyday life.
1991 – TI establishes TIRIS, the first multinational semiconductor company
to develop and market RFID.
1991 – AAR adopts RFID standard.
1993 – ISO EID standard developed.
1992-1995 – Multi-protocol traffic control and toll collection systems
implemented in Texas, Oklahoma, and Georgia.
1994 – All USA railcars equipped with RFID.
1996 – City of L.A. adopts pet tagging.
2000s – Over 350 direct reference patents, vast number of companies enter
RFID marketplace.
Modern successful commercial applications include:
Supply Chain Management
Transportation/Distribution
Industrial
Security and Access Control
Animal Identification
Automated Library Systems
Checkpoint Systems
Toll Road Control
Healthcare
Digital Card Mail
Toys
Wide-scale electronic toll collection in US.
2003 – WalMart and the Department of Defense of the United States issued an
edict requiring their suppliers to incorporate RFID technologies in the
supply chain commencing in 2005.
————-
by Armen Asryan
Content Manager of SiliconArmenia
¿ SiliconArmenia 2001 – 2004