ARMENIAN-INDIAN COOPERATION HAS GOOD PROSPECTS IN GEM AND JEWELLERY INDUSTRY
Noyan Tapan
Aug 31 2006
YEREVAN, AUGUST 31, NOYAN TAPAN. The Armenian-Indian cooperation in
the gem and jewellery industry can produce good results, especially
in terms of setting up joint ventures. Gagik Mkrtchian, Head of the
Gem and Jewellery Department of the RA Ministry of Trade and Economic
Development, stated this in Yerevan on August 31 during an event to
present the gem and jewellery sector of the Indian economy. According
to him, such an attempt has already been made: an Armenian-Indian
jewellery design institute will be founded in Yerevan by late 2006. He
said that the Armenin legislation on gem and jewellery industry is
one of the best in the world, which is also evident from the large
amount of foreign investments in this sector. The event was organized
by India’s Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council’s (GJEPC)
delegation that arrived in Armenia on August 31. The delegation is
headed by Sanjay Kothari who expressed confidence that out of the
delegation’s visits to Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Georgia and
Armenia, the last one will be the most successful. He noted that the
delegation is composed of businessmen representing all sections of
India’s gem and jewellery industry. In the opinion of Emil Grigorian,
Chairman of Armenia’s Gem and Jewellery Makers Association, a body to
perform the functions of GJEPC should be established in Armenia. He
noted that Armenia should use the Indian experience of jewellery
marketing, thanks to which Indian businessmen sell about 1,000 tons of
jewellery a year in India, and approximately the same amount is sold
abroad. Most of Indian jewellery is manufactured by small and medium
enterprises (the GJEPC represents some 7,000 Indian jewellers). In
2004-2005, production of the gem and jewellery industry accounted
for 18% of India’s industrial production exports. According to some
forecasts, in 2005-2006 fiscal year, the sector’s production will
amount to 16.7 billion USD. 11 out of every 12 diamonds used in the
world are produced in India. In 2005, the production of Armenia’s
gem and jewellery industry made 220 million USD.

VLADIMIR KARAPETIAN: AZERBAIJAN DOES EVERYTHING POSSIBLE TO CONCEAL TRACES OF ITS VANDALISM
Noyan Tapan
Armenians Today
Aug 31 2006
YEREVAN, AUGUST 31, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. It is not for the
first time that the Azerbaijani side puts obstacles for an observer
muission to visit Nakhijevan, the acting head of the RA MFA Press
and Information Department Vladimir Karapetian said. “Azerbaijan
does everything possible to conceal the traces of its vandalism and
to distract the international community’s attention from an attempt
(unfortunately, a successful one) to destroy the spiritual and cultural
samples of the Armenians,” he pointed out, while commenting, at the
request of Public Television’s Haylur information program, on the
fact that Azerbaijan did not allow the Europarliament’s monitoring
delegation to go to Nakhijevan in order to examine the reasons for the
destruction of Armenian monuments in Hin Jugha. In his opinion, the
absurd accusations regarding the fires pursue one purpose: to conceal
the barbarian actions committed in Nakhijevan under an atificial
uproar. He reminded that many foreign experts and international
reporters confirmed that the Azerbaijani government artitrarily
destroyed over 2,000 gravestones. “Those guilty for this crime must
be held accountable,” he stated. “This terrible action, as well as the
recent anti-Armenian propaganda of Azerbaijan show that Azerbaijan has
not changed neither its methods nor its intention. In such a situation,
it is not surprising that the Azerbaijani side creates obstacles in
connection with the visit of Europarliament’s fact-finding mission,”
V. Karapetian stated. Nevertheless, he expressed confidence that the
international community will be consistent in its actions to register
and condemn the destruction of Armenian cultural values in Nakhijevan.

FACTS ARE IMMORTAL, THEY LIVE FOREVER
Hakob Badalyan
Lragir.am
31 Aug 06
The first tendencies of struggle against the criminal are outlining
in the government of Armenia. And strange though it may seem, these
tendencies are displayed by the minister of environmental protection
Vardan Aivazyan. In the evening of August 30 he spoke on TV about
activities, containing criminal directly and requiring the attendance
of the procuracy.
For instance, the minister announces that over 90 percent of building
in Armenia does not correspond to the environmental standards but they
have found a loophole. According to the minister, only construction
on 1000 square meters is liable to an environmental test, whereas
the land is allocated under the mechanism 990×990.
Hence, the building occupies much larger space but on documents the
space is divided and not liable to an environmental test.
Vardan Aivazyan did not specify the names of people who are responsible
for this reality. However, the minister of environmental protection may
realize that giving names means assume that people are unknowledgeable
for the simple reason that one needs to explain everything in detail
to an unknowledgeable person. It is enough to find out who allocates
land. Of course, the City Hall of Yerevan, or the municipality of the
community of Center because 90 percent of construction, maybe more
is carried out in the center. Consequently, the mayor of Yerevan or
the municipality of the Center, who are members of the council of
the Republican Party, are accountable for the tricks with documents,
of course, if they rule their offices. The degree of accountability
is not something that Vardan Aivazyan or we should decide.
This is the business of the Office of the Attorney General because
these facts are usually investigated by them. If the procuracy
works, it must invite the minister of environmental protection for
a talk because his statements obviously speak about serious cases of
corruption. Besides the procuracy, the president should also invite
Vardan Aivazyan for a talk since he did not believe on August 30
through his speaker that the government adheres to the criminal and
demanded facts on the criminal, and the minister of environmental
protection may have a number of facts. Otherwise, he was speaking about
something he was unaware. And it means that Vardan Aivazyan is merely
making allegations. Consequently, it will appear that he is merely
trying to move his guilt at some other direction after the sphere he
heads underwent the torrent of petitions from the procuracy. Hence,
Vardan Aivazyan’s talk with both the president and the attorney general
would supply them with facts, simply the problem is on whom the facts
will be. And this is not very important because they must start with
someone, of course if there is wish to start at all.

THE UNBEARABLE PERFECTION OF LIFE
James Hakobyan
Lragir.am
31 Aug 06
The hit of the anniversary of independence is the depreciation of
the dollar, or according to official Yerevan, revaluation of the dram.
The wording does not interest the society, like with regard to
independence. Most citizens of Armenia living independently over
the past 15 years are no longer interested whether the country they
live in is characterized as independent or not. It does not interest
them because for 15 years independence remained at the level of
wording instead of turning into a way of life. And by describing
the depreciation of the dollar as the depreciation of the dram the
government was unable to settle the problem. In other words, it was
unable to dispel the doubts that a big game is hiding behind these
wordings, and the society was removed from the field even before the
game starts.
And this prevents from getting the complete picture of the situation
because on the one hand you are in the field, on the other hand,
however, you can only see what the TV set of the checkroom shows.
Meanwhile the TV shows what a skillful economic and monetary policy
the country conducts, harmonizing the revaluation of the Armenian
economy and the national currency. People suffering from this harmony
naturally do not believe the TV set and have already stopped believing
that happiness is in harmony.
They do not believe on seeing another example of harmony between the
international financial organizations and the government of Armenia,
namely the Central Bank. Over the upcoming fortnight the delegation
of the IMF will be visiting Armenia. No doubt it will again utter
words of praise for the monetary policy of the Central Bank. And
the whole paradox is that these words are based on the international
monetary tendencies. In other words, when they approve the policy of
the Central Bank, they proceed from the situation in the developed
countries of the world, i.e. curbing of inflation, a fluctuating
exchange rate. Presently this is the accent of the monetary policy
conducted in developed countries. And it appears that the praise of
the international financial organizations for the Central Bank of
Armenia is quite justified. In addition, these organizations praise
the Central Bank not only in public speeches but also in internal
reports and recommendations, which are extended to the Central Bank
in the form of analyses.
It appears that the international organizations approve a policy
which harms almost half, even more than half of the country’s
population. There is a nuance, however, which the international
organizations diplomatically avoid to state publicly and apply only
in private contact with the Central Bank. The problem is that by
emphasizing the correct monetary policy of the Central Bank in the
documents of these closed contacts and praising the attitude of the
organization with regard to the exchange rate, the international
financial organizations, particularly the IMF point to an underlying
circumstance – the absence of a strategy of development of the
country. They say this is the reason why the policy of the Central
Bank becomes target of strictures.
In other words, when there is no strategy, it is natural that separate
steps will not produce any results, since results should be expected
from complex steps. It is impossible to cut the leg of a man and take
it forward waiting that the head will come forward. The head will
howl of pain but will not walk forward because an organism moves
together. The problem is that there is no movement. In this case
the Central Bank does what it should in accordance with the rules,
in other words, in accordance with the theory. And this action is
approved by the international financial organization because it fully
complies with their idea about the theory.
It appears that we deal with an almost ideal state: there is a theory
and there is an action that complies with the theory. And strange
though it may seem, this ideal state leads to an undesirable result for
the public. No doubt, this result is determined by objective factors
as a result of which the dram really revaluates and the dollar really
depreciates, and interference with this process may lead to undesirable
consequences for the economy and the financial market. The problem is
that ideal actions are good for an ideal environment only. And the
atmosphere in Armenia is far from being ideal and gets even farther
by a daily decrease by one or two drams.
It is clear that “nature” is to blame for natural decrease.
In this case who is accountable for the artificial decrease? Who
imposes an ideal reaction on the reality, which is far from the ideal,
creating an illusion of harmony to the image of the mixed action?

UNITED COMMUNISTS ARE NOT AGAINST ALL-ARMENIAN MOVEMENT
Lragir.am
31 Aug 06
The United Communist Party of Armenia is not against the return of
the All-Armenian Movement to the political sphere. The leader of the
United Communist Party Yuri Manukyan also thinks that “in fact, every
political ideology has the right to exist, including the All-Armenian
Movement.” Yuri Manukyan thinks the All-Armenian Movement is the
“product” of the right wing of AAM.
“If it cannot get on well with political parties dominating the right
wing, this is not our problem. And if it managed to set the importance
or necessity of its stance on the settlement of the problems the
people, the country are facing as its objective, again it is not our
problem, it is their problem,” says the leader of the United Communist
Party of Armenia.
He states he is not an enemy of the AAM but a political opponent.
However, he is against that the attempts of the All-Armenian Movement
to return are presented with the name of Levon Ter-Petrosyan.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

WHY DID “RIGHTIST PATRIOTS” FAIL?
Lragir.am
31 Aug 06
Why did the attempt of uniting rightist patriots in Armenia undertaken
by the Progressive Party undertaken last year with its leader Tigran
Urikhanyan, to which the United Communist Party led by Yuri Manukyan
fail? Almost a year past the failure of the initiative, on August 31
Yuri Manukyan presented the cause of failure of the initiative of
unification. The problem was not the money but ambitions who would
take up leadership.
“Suppose that Manukyan with his age and experience was patiently
waiting until they would offer him. But there were young people,
individuals, especially women who wanted to lead it. And it is
unpleasant, not pleasant, no matter the way they passed. It is another
thing when they offer and you reject,” says Yuri Manukyan.

PROPORTIONAL OR MAJORITY SYSTEM, IT IS NOT IMPORTANT
Lragir.am
31 Aug 06
It does not matter much for the United Communist Party what changes
will be made to the Electoral Code, and which system of election will
be preferred, proportional or majority, or what their correlation
will be. The leader of the United Communist Party, who showed up at
the Pastark Club August 31, said the problem is the political will
rather than the quality of the Electoral Code.
Nevertheless, the leader of the United Communist Party said he is
for 100 percent proportional system of election because the failure
of the political system does not allow pursuing ideological struggle
under the majority system.

THEY DO NOT THINK ANY MORE THAT SERGE SARGSYAN DESERVES
Lragir.am
31 Aug 06
There is a year and a half to go before the presidential election,
and it is early to speak about a candidate, stated Yuri Manukyan, the
leader of the United Labor Party, August 31 at the Pastark Club. He
said if the Communist parties come together, they can name a candidate
who bears the rightist ideology, but at any rate it is early to speak
about a candidate, says Yuri Manukyan.
It is notable that a year ago Yuri Manukyan did not hide that they
preferred Serge Sargsyan as a candidate because he is the best
prepared figure in the political sphere. Presently, Yuri Manukyan
already considers it early to give names.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

CNN WILL MAKE US BEAUTIFUL
Lragir.am
31 Aug 06
Armenia will be advertized on CNN. On August 31 the government approved
the conditions of CNN for advertising Armenia on this channel. The
decision was made in accordance with the government policy on
tourism provided for by the law on tourism. The deputy minister of
trade and economic development Tigran Davtyan was instructed to sign
the letter of agreement foreseen by the decision which will enable
signing a contract with CNN and “present our country as sustainable,
safe, favorable for business, investments, as well as attractive
for tourists.”
The expenditures on advertisement will be covered on the funds
allocated for turning Tsaghkadzor a center of tourism in the framework
of the program of development of tourism in Armenia.

WHAT ALLIANCES WOULD BE MORE ACCEPTABLE FOR THE SOCIETY?
Lragir.am
31 Aug 06
August 31, 2006 [Report on Internet Survey]
The possible pre-electoral (or post-electoral) alliances of the RA
National Assembly are one of the most actively discussed themes in
the context of the political rearrangements going on in Armenia.
Bringing out some hypotheses we are not aimed at modeling all the
possible alliance groups and (or) public expectations directed to them.
The presented survey makes it obvious, that for the society the
two possible EXPECTATIONS PROMOTING alliances are “Bargavatch
Hayastan”-“Orinats Erkir” (57%), then “HJK”-“Orinats Erkir” (23%).
The survey was conducted through Internet (website: )
from July 25 to August 30, 2006 (activated in 07.25.2006 and archived
in 08.30.2006).
If the mentioned parties participate to the RA national Assembly
elections with alliances, what party will you vote in favor of first?
(Respondents could answer up to 2 questions)
Survey results
Bargavatch Hayastan (Gagik TSARUKYAN) – Orinats Erkir (Arthur
BAGHDASARYAN) alliance 57%
HJK (Stepan DEMIRTCHYAN) – Orinats Erkir (Arthur Baghdasaryan)
alliance 23%
Azgayin Miabanutyun (Artashes GEGHAMYAN) – Orinats Erkir (Arthur
BAGHDASARYAN)) alliance 8%
HJK (Stepan DEMIRTCHYAN) – Azgayin Miabanutyun (Artashes GEGHAMYAN)
alliance 4%
Bargavatch Hayastan (Gagik TSARUKYAN) – HHK (Andranik MARGARYAN)
alliance 3%
Bargavatch Hayastan (Gagik TSARUKYAN) – Azgayin Miabanutyun (Artashes
GEGHAMYAN) alliance 1%
Bargavatch Hayastan (Gagik TSARUKYAN) – HJK (Stepan DEMIRTCHYAN)
alliance 1%
Vox Populi public opinion Research centre of
“Electoral Systems’ Centre”