Politics

“Stuffing of cloned people”

“Although these elections are unique with the limited number of violence cases this time the traditional violations haven’t been put in action. Instead, new technologies were applied and they are called human stuffing,” during yesterday’s press conference stated the president of Helsinki Committee Armenia office Avetik Ishkhanyan while presenting the observation results of the Committee’s monitoring. “There was an immense number of cloned people, who having been registered at various places, showed out to vote. The same person received temporary registration at different addresses. And in most of the cases, the owners of addresses were not aware of the registration of new people,” said Ishkhanyan and added that the majority of the temporary registered ones have been employees of SAS supermarkets. The Committee conducted monitoring in 24 precincts of district 4 of Arabkir. “We were expecting that there would be acute competition. That is the reason why we picked this...

Business & Economy

Time to collect electoral bribe

Official statistics institutions have not published information on inflation during May. That information will be published in the end of the month and will be fully available with details next month. People who were saying that there would be inflation following the elections can already say that tendencies have started. During the Easter the prices of eggs did not go up and many people said that it was because of the fact that elections were coming up and the prices would grow after May 6. Now they see that they were not mistaken. We do not mean the rumors that on the night after the election rumors said that prices of some types of products have gone up; what we mean concerns more official indicator, which is the exchange rate. As it was expected, the national currency is rapidly going down. Before the elections the market was full of foreign currency, which was exchanged to drams to take care of formal and other expenses related to elections, now the reverse process s going on. The price of dollar is rapidly...

Society

Armenia: Large Families Hardest Hit by Poverty

Benefits fail to provide safety-net for all vulnerable families, UN officer says. By Sara Khojoyan - Caucasus CRS Issue 637, 5 Apr 12 Armenian families with four or more children are statistically the most likely to fall into the lowest-income category, leaving them struggling to get by on pay and benefits. With much of the male population forced to work abroad, the burden of supporting households falls disproportionately on women. And although they are often the sole breadwinners, they are more likely to be out of work than men – 70 per cent of unemployed people are female. The national statistics agency says more than 70 per cent of families with at least four children live in poverty. While 36 per cent of the population as a whole is counted below the poverty line, the figure for children is 41 per cent. Gayane, 43, had to beg her employers to keep her off the books when they took her on as a cleaner in the capital Yerevan. If she declared her employed status, she and her eight children...

Marzes

Khosrov reserve facing danger

Days ago Ecolur NGO received an alert call that the construction of a restaurant in Gilan reserve of Khostov forest had been continuing. Let us remember that the construction was on hold for awhile due to the efforts of the environmentalists. In order to find out the actual situation we visited Gilan reserve with the chair of the organization Inga Zarafyan. What a paradise… Perhaps Khosrov II Kotak King would never imagine that 17 centuries later in the forest established by him the current “elite” of Armenia would initiate a construction of a restaurant complex. The forest established by Khosrov II in 330-338 AD gained a status of a state reserve only in 1958. The reserve was created to improve and enrich the fauna and flora of the forest. It occupies approximately 27.000 hectares of land and is stretched along the south-western side of Geghama mountain chain. The Armenian moufflon (wild sheep) is the most commonly seen animal there and the goat of bezoar. Among the birds we mostly see the...

World

It is impossible

The European parliament has adopted a resolution calling on the Russian government to cancel the results of the parliamentary elections on December 4 and hold new free elections. In the same resolution the European MPs are calling on Russia to register all opposition parties before the next elections and investigate all electoral violations on December 4. The European parliament has asked the EU leadership to raise these issues during the EU-Russia two-day summit. Of course there is no possibility that Russia may invalidate the results of elections, and following the mentioned announcement the Russian foreign minister announced that those issues would not be discussed during the meetings as those were not included in the agenda. According to the Russian government, this resolution is not correct and it is an attempt to interfere with the internal affairs of another country. However, this announcement concerning violated elections concerns positive messages too. Maybe it is not so much targeted at Russia but other...

Science

“There is nothing that is not or will not be there”

- In Armenia the same archaic method of granting academic degrees without actual academic investment continues. We have numerously mentioned that education is first of all politics. It is the weapon of rectifying the role of each person in the state. - Not having science is equal to not having weapon and armament on the battlefield although the science is being bargained and especially in the field of politics. During the years of the Cold War, and in my opinion it still continues, big powerful states are establishing special scientific directions. The goal is to divert the countries from their main directions and objectives. The enemy state was thriving to this direction and policy. They’d survey, spend money and then realize that no results have been achieved. And now in the world science there is a middle level, where talented scientists are included. Their work is being monitored by educational centers of powerful states. We first of all mean the scientists of the third world, including Armenia. After...

Technology

Synopsys Armenia R&D Site - Intelligent, Well-trained, and Capable

On April 12-14, Dr. Howard Ko, Sr. Vice President and General Manager at SEG Department Synopsys, Inc., was in Armenia for a working visit. He kindly agreed to give an exclusive interview to Synopsys Armenia Public Relations Manager Gayane Markosyan for 168 Hours Newspaper. - Dr. Howard Ko,please describe your impression from Synopsys Armenia R&D site in three words. - Howard Ko (HK): (Laughing) I would prefer to use 3000 words… In 3 words I would say - intelligent, well-trained, and capable. - How useful and effective was your visit to Synopsys Armenia? - To me it is useful to see the SEG resource characteristics at different sides, and it is very helpful: it is first-hand knowledge for me. So, I think it was very useful. - What’s the role in Armenian SEG team has in overall Synopsys success? - That is probably the big thing in terms of Synopsys success because every one of us contributes to Synopsys success. I would say that SEG Armenia is a very important part of the growth drive that we...

Education

Modern writers are no more pneumonic and untimely dead

But it is anticipated that it will happen in the school textbooks. The school curriculum of literature is made in such a way that the knowledge of the students starts from Mashtos and ends with Hrant Matevosyan. So it is impossible to receive any information about the modern literature. Perhaps the reason is that, according to the developers of literature curriculums, the modern writers don’t have any valuable pieces. So it would be a total waste of time for the students to become acquainted with those writers and their pieces. But the doctor of literature, expert of literature Ani Pashayan and the candidate for literature Arkmenik Nikoghosyan have a different opinion. A.P. –Armenian language and literature subjects should be most expected ones. Literature is among the first with its context and existence. Here the teacher has to play a priority role. We should understand who the teacher is and how he/she teaches. It is impossible to connect teaching of literature with only the textbooks. First of...

People

In Memory of Ric Chashoudian

Richard M. Chashoudian, professional handler, breeder, mentor, judge, writer and sculptor, passed away on Sept. 19, 2011, at the age of 80. Born in 1931, Ric got his first Airedale Terrier when he was just 12 years old. Registered Ric’s Lucky Boy, the Airedale and his young owner earned a CD title in obedience and Ric came to the attention of several of the prominent dog men of the day. His second Airedale, Roy-El Tiger Lily, became Ric’s first owner-handled champion. At age 15, he won his first Specialty Best in Show with her. His destiny seemed set then and there, and two years later, in 1948, Ric won his first all-breed Best In Show, also with an Airedale. Over his 60-plus years in dogs, Ric Chashoudian won more than 500 all-breed Best In Shows, most with Terriers, but also with Brussels Griffons, Bichons Frisés and Irish Setters. His most prestigious win was earned in 1976 when he piloted the Lakeland Terrier, CH Jo-Ni’s Red Baron of Crofton, to the top spot at the 100th anniversary...

Books & Arts

“I like to dig into the nature of people” says painter Anna Navasardian

When looking at twenty two year old painter Anna Navasardian’s paintings (annanavasardian.com) the first impression is wonder. The depth of impression, cool colors, and the dramatic inner state of her characters are jarring, and you ask yourself “is it possible that the author of these paintings is so young?” Anna lives in the United States where she moved with her family at the age of one. She started painting when she was a child, attended high school for the arts, and later graduated from the College of Fine Art at Carnegie Mellon University. - So you knew what you wanted to do as a child? - I have always liked painting and sketching. I used anything available, markers, pens, etc. - You work on a relatively large scale. Do you have a lot to say? - You know why? Usually I prefer to paint people. On large canvases figures have more presence. More so, they become part of their environments. My purpose is not to describe the physical attributes of a person but to illuminate at least one moment...

Leisure

Armenicum against tuberculosis

Haik Avetisyan, who is a registered patient in the Abovyan city tuberculosis dispensary of the RA Ministry of Healthcare asked us to examine the results of an experiment done in 2005, which in fact had to be done by totally different institutions. According to him, after testing the Armenicum medicine 29 people with tuberculosis sickness have died. “In 2005, when the Armenicum had been just discovered, they had to do some experiments. At that time I was getting treatment at the tuberculosis dispensary. They tested the Armenicum on 30 people, 29 out of which died, and one of them stayed alive because managed to escape,” assures V.Avetisyan and adds that it was done by taking signatures from the patients. He says doctors have suggested him too but he refused. “I was there at that time. The patients subject to the experiment were guarded by people with guns and one could not see what was happening inside. It was not injection, it was a long procedure. Those 29 guys died,” he said. We called...

Sports

Our football players played brilliantly

“The whole nation was following the game of Armenian national team with the greatest attention. The national consolidation and great attention are the most valuable achievements irrespective of the results of the game. I don’t want to give evaluation to the outcome of the game, but I must say that our football players played brilliantly” stated RA President Serzh Sargsyan during the annual award in the sphere of IT technologies referring to the football match Armenia vs. Ireland and added: “Nobody could even dream about such a success two or three years ago. Professionals will always find their way, but it requires much effort, patience, persistence and purposefulness. I am sure we possess those features as a united entity, as Armenian nation. I am sure the awards you were given today may prove it the best, since you earned it due to honest and persistent work”....

Health Care

Dentistry should be developed in Armenia,- says doctor from Germany Octavian Fagaras

During these days Doctor Octavian Fagaras visited Armenia, who is a certified expert of DGOI (Association of Oral Implantologists of Germany), Diplomat of ICOI (International Congress of Implantologists) and authorized representative/trainer of German Bredent Medical company, who also has his own clinic in Romania. The visit of Dr. Fagaras to our country has the purpose to examine the sector of dentistry in Armenia and try to cooperate with the experts of dentistry in the country. After examining the sector of dentistry in Armenia Dr. Octavian Fagaras thinks that Armenian specialists have to develop the sector because still there is a lot to do in dentistry in Armenia. Armenia, as the other post-Soviet countries, is apart from the international developments technologies and permanent achievements in implantology. - When did you start cooperation with Armenian implantologists and what kind of programs are you going to implement with Armenia in the future? - I visited Armenia for the first time in 2010 by the...

Pressing

Russian capital in Armenia: political or economic presence?

The “Pressing” club adjacent to “168 Zham” newspaper held a discussion on the topic of the presence of the Russian capital in Armenia. Namely, the discussion was focused on the issue whether the presence of the Russian capital has political reasons or no. The conductor of the discussion, economic analyst Ara Galoyan said that there had been many facts proving both the political presence and the economic presence and asked the participants whether such big share of presence of the Russian capital in Armenia is not dangerous. “I have the latest publication concerning the foreign investments in Armenia. The share of direct investments on the part of Russia during the period of January-June, 2007, grew by 3,8 times, and the indirect investments - by 24,4 times. How is such great growth possible in the Armenian economy just from the economic point of view? Is the reason the fact that our economy is small?” he asked. The president and general director of “ArmRusGazard”...