BUILDINGS IN ARMENIA NEED SEISMIC PROTECTION
Panorama.am
15:17 13/06/06
Eight buildings of Yerevan, Giumry and Stepanakert (NKR) are equipped
with a new system of seismic protection, Michael Melkumyan, chairman of
Association of seismic resistant constructions who is the author of the
technology, told a press conference today. In the words of the expert,
seismic insulators are made of stratiform rubber-metallic supports
which “absorb” the energy of underground shocks. This technology can
damp horizontal shocks and, to some extent, vertical shocks as well
since the rubber insulators can shrink up to 6 mm. At the moment a
program of three-dimensional seismic insulation is being developed,
costing $100 000.
According to M. Melkumyan, strengthening of seismic resistance of
buildings in Armenia is a priority problem. About 80% of buildings in
Yerevan will be endangered in a case of an earthquake, he said. About
70 seismic insulators are needed for consolidation of one building. In
the words of the author, this method is 2.5 times cheaper of
traditional methods of strengthening the buildings.

IT WAS DECIDED TO CONTINUE IN THE SAME WAY
A1+
[09:15 pm] 13 June, 2006
The meeting of the Armenian and Azeri foreign Ministers Vartan Oskanian
and Elmar Mammadyarov was held in Paris on June 13 as it was arranged
after the meeting of the two Ministers in Bucharest on June 5.
The OSCE Minsk group Russian Co-Chair Juri Merzlyakov and French
Co-Chair Bernard Fassier as well as the Personal Representative of
the OSCE Chairman-in-Office Andzej Kasprzyk were also present at
the negotiations.
The key issues of the meeting were the principles and approaches of
the conflict settlement which aroused discord among the two sides.
It was decided to continue negotiations on the positions of the
two sides.

MINISTER PUNISHED ARARAT GOLD
Panorama.am
16:45 13/06/06
Nature protection minister Vartan AIVAZYAN will ban Ararat Gold
to settle near lake Sevan, the minister told a press conference
today. “If they continue working with the same methods, they will not
get permission,” he stated. Aivazyan was asked if they will authorize
Ararat Gold to build a factory near Sevan in case they change their
methods, Aivazyan answered, “after all, they are an economic entity.
They will receive permission only if they meet nature protection
responsibilities.”
The Nature Protection ministry has punished the factory and required
that it stops work for three month. “The level of cyanogen has
exceeded the required norm in their production,” the minister
said.

MINISTER’S RELATIVE TO GO TO 12-YEAR SCHOOL
Panorama.am
15:41 13/06/06
The minister of education and science Levon Lazarian said today
that the educational system should become student-centered instead
of teacher-centered. The minister said we are losing our position
in the world in science and comprehensive changes should be made to
resist “downfall”. He said the problems are more management related
rather than financial. The minister is concerned with education more
at the moment, particularly with 12-year school system which launches
this year. “I have the impression that we have taken the same 10 year
program and made it 12 years,” also saying the junior and mid schools
are clear but there is no concept for high schools yet. By the start
of educational year everything will be ready, including textbooks,
the minister said. According to him, some parents have taken their
children to schools last year because they do not trust the new
system. He also said that 12-year school system is not bad and his
cousin will go to school this year, too.

NEGOTIATIONS SHOULD BE STOPPED UNTIL THE PROBLEM OF NORTH KARABAKH IS RESOLVED
Panorama.am
14:33 13/06/06
At the moment when talks for Nagorno Karabakh conflict regulations
have stepped into a new active phase and Minsk Group co-chairman
continuously propose new solutions, Edik Balayan, chairman of
Shahumyan-Getashen Union says that the talks should be temporarily
stopped. He supports his argument saying that the problem of North
Karabakh is not on the table of negotiations. “The political fate
of North Karabakh and the problems of refugees are not clear in the
negotiations. It is not fair to continue talks under such conditions,”
Balayan says.
About 15 years ago the Armenian resdients of Getashen were forcefully
dislocated from their residential areas and 14 years ago – from
Shahumyan. 18 Armenian villages went under the ocupation of Azerbaijan
and are under Azeri control now. Balayan says the co-chairman should
force Azerbiajan to stop the blockade and estimate the losses suffered
by Armenia and Artsakh due to the blockade and decide how they should
be compensated. Only after that it will be expedient to continue talks,
he says.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

EACH COUNTRY IS POWERFUL WITH ITS YOUTH. WHAT ABOUT ARMENIA?
Panorama.am
14:22 13/06/06
300 young people and 40 youth organizations participate in a
conference launched at Yerevan State University today dedicated to
youth issues. According to Arsen SOGHOMONYAN, youth policy department
head at the ministry of culture and youth affairs told that there
are 150 youth public organizations in Armenia but they are not aware
what each of them does. The conference will help them to know about
each other’s activities, he said.
On the second day of the conference the youth will discuss “National
report on the Armenian youth” which has been developed in one year. The
report will be discussed with the participation of Council of Europe.
It covers topics like unemployment, housing, educational and other
issues.

DOGHAGORTS OJSC EMPLOYEES RAISE QUESTIONS
Panorama.am
13:00 13/06/06
175 employees of Doghagorts-1 open joint stock company have applied
to one of parliament blocks with a request to support their rights as
employees. They want to know whether Doghagorts-1 has been privatized
and if yes, under what conditions. The employees also want to know
what is their share of the capital. How can they get 20% of shares
which they are entitled to?
They also want to know how much was invested last year. The employees
address these and similar issues to the deputies hoping that they will
help to settle their relations with company management.

52 ARMENIAN POPULATED AREAS RENAMED BY LAW ADOPTED AT RA NA
Noyan Tapan
Jun 13 2006
YEREVAN, JUNE 13, NOYAN TAPAN. On June 13, RA National Assembly in
the second reading and completely adopted the bill submitted by
the government “On Making Amendments and Additions to RA Law “On
Administrative Division.”
According to the bill, 52 populated areas of different regions
of Armenia are renamed. The goal of this is to change foreign,
disharmonious or repeated names. A number of populated areas were
renamed as the local residents wished. For instance, the village of
Areg, Aragatsotn region, was renamed Tatul after National Hero Tatul
Krpeyan. Besides, the settlement of Ayrum, Tavush region, is given
the status of a town community in consideration of the fact that it
is practically a town community with the respective infrastructures
and is deprived of lands of agricultural importance characteristic
of rural communities.

ARMENIA IS OBLIGED TO MOVE TOWARDS EUROPEAN EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM, LEVON MKRTCHIAN IS CONVINCED
Noyan Tapan
Jun 13 2006
YEREVAN, JUNE 13, NOYAN TAPAN. Henceforth RA Ministry of Education
and Science will work more openly and transparently by organizing
press conferences once during every 10 days. As Minister Levon
Mkrtchian said at the June 13 press conference, their task is that
the Ministry should not be treated only as a body holding entrance
examinations. According to him, the main goal of the department’s
policy is bringing the Armenian educational sphere in correspondence
with the international standards. L.Mkrtchian said that considerable
regress has been registered in this issue currently. As he stated,
formerly the Armenian educational system was compared with the
European countries, while now it is compared with the Middle Asian
countries. “Armenia is obliged to move towards the European educational
system,” the Minister mentioned.
L.Mkrtchian said that they should work out a mechanism where the system
will not be affected by the change of officials as party direction
is destructive for a system. According to him, complex and integral
changes need to be made in science. It was mentioned that the problem
of development of science is not so much financial as is connected
with right management.
According to L.Mkrtchian, there is still much to do in the sphere
of 12-year education as they “just pulled out 10-year education
and turned it into a 12-year education.” According to the Minister,
parallel with the transition to a new educational system they should
reduce the years of study at higher educational institutions. It
was mentioned that the quality of 12-year education should lighten
the burden of the institutions of higher education. In L.Mkrtchian’s
opinion, an integral system of giving marks for knowledge should be
also introduced. And the credit system, according to him, should not
be introduced at once, but gradually.

ARMENIAN INTELLECTUALS CONDEMN ACTS OF VIOLENCE TOWARDS ARMENIANS IN RUSSIA
Noyan Tapan
Jun 13 2006
YEREVAN, JUNE 13, NOYAN TAPAN. The representatives of Armenian
creative unions and scientific circles condemn the acts of violence
towards Armenians in Russia, in consequence of which a great number
of Armenians were killed. The intellectuals call for undertaking
effective measures for stopping these phenomena. They criticized RA
Foreign Ministry at the June 13 meeting. According to the speakers,
the Ministry does not properly struggle against this phenomena through
its diplomatic canals.
Maria Babayan, Head of RA Foreign Ministry RF Department, said that “we
all are anxious about the existence of such a problem in Russia.” But
she does not agree that the Foreign Ministry undertakes no steps
against this. According to her, in case of any act of violence the
Armenian foreign political department responds, sends letters to their
Russian colleagues, and there are affirmations that the criminals
will be disclosed and punished.
The intellectuals are also going to make a statement, as well as to
send a message to RF President Vladimir Putin.