Author: Karabekian Emil

Aysor, Armenia
March 26 2010

The week of children’s book to kick off on March 29

>From March 29 till April 1 in Yerevan will be held the week of
children’s book and music, iformed Levon Ananyan today on the meeting
with the journalists.

The speaker also reminded that the tradition of the children’s book
week existed since the Soviet times, which was forgotten in 1990s.
This tradition has been resumed since 2001 ` 2002. The Armenian
Ministry of Culture, the Union of writers, the Children’s library
after Khnko Aper and other libraries celebrate the week of the
children’s book.

According to L. Ananyan the children’s book week kicks off from a
region in Armenia. Last year that region was in Gyumri, this year it
will launch from Armavir region.

`That day will be the awarding ceremony of the best book of the year,’
mentioned Levon Ananyan and added that this year the prize is shared
between Valter Torosyan and the editor of the `Tsitsernak’ journal.

World Markets Research Centre
Global Insight
March 25 2010

Signs of Armenian Recovery Supported by February GDP and Trade Results

BYLINE: Venla Sipila

The Armenian economy reached an annual growth rate of 3.1% in
January-February, according to ARKA News quoting Gagik Minasian, the
Chairman of the committee on financial and budget issues in the
country’s parliament. Further, it was reported that industrial growth,
including electric energy, reached 9.4% year-on-year (y/y) for the two
first months of the year, according to data from the National
Statistical Service. These figures signal acceleration of annual
growth in February, given that January GDP and industrial growth rates
had been reported at 2.4% y/y and 6.5% y/y, respectively. Meanwhile,
agricultural production increased by 2.7% y/y in January-February,
while the construction sector contracted by 3% y/y. In a separate
report, ARKA News also cites figures from the Statistical Service on
foreign trade, showing that exports in January-February amounted to
US$121.4 million, rising by 53.5% y/y, whereas imports gained 16.8%
y/y and totalled US$503.8 million. This produced a trade deficit of
US$382.4 million for the first two months of the year. In February
alone, exports rose by 25.2% month-on-month (m/m), while imports edged
up by 0.3% m/m.

Significance:Minasian was eager to interpret the January-February
growth data as testament to successful economic diversification, but
this conclusion seems premature. While naturally positive news, the
relatively positive output and export results to a large degree owe to
favourable base effects. Over 2009, the economy contracted by 14.4%,
but started to show some signs for recovery towards the end of the
year (seeArmenia: 26 January 2010:).The global downturn led to sharply
weakened remittance inflows, while the export demand weakened thanks
to the global recession. However, the competitiveness of the economy
is very weak in any case, and thus, reform challenges remain vast. The
government’s official growth forecast for this year stands at 1.2%,
and at present we believe this to be attainable by some margin.
Nevertheless, growth rates are unlikely to keep accelerating
comparably for the remainder of the year; instead, the recovery is
likely be relatively muted and gradual. Moreover, it is starting from
a very weak base. Structural reforms are necessary in order to boost
growth potential and export earnings capacity in the longer term.
Meanwhile, in the near term, the recovery of remittance and investment
inflows plays a leading role in determining the country’s economic
success. Given the very wide trade deficit, exchange rate adjustment
may be necessary in order to guide external balances to a more
sustainable trajectory. Indeed, a further ARKA report also suggests
that the Central Bank of Armenia has recently refrained from
interventions seeking to curb dram depreciation.

ARMENIAN PRESIDENT MEETS WITH THE ALEPPO-ARMENIAN COMMUNITY

95760/lang/en
2010-03-24

YEREVAN, MARCH 24, ARMENPRESS: On the second day of his official visit
to Syria, Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan met with the governor of
Aleppo, discussed Armenian-Syrian cooperation and opportunities of
cooperation on inter-provincial level.

Presidential press office told Armenpress that the Aleppo-Armenian
community hosted the president. In the warm and non-formal conversation
Serzh Sargsyan said he is pleased with the results of the visit to
Syria and noted that it will give new stimulus to the traditional
friendly Armenian-Syrian relations.

President Sargsyan also delivered a speech in which he referred to
the major issues of the country.

PRESIDENT SARGSYAN PAYS TRIBUTE TO LATE PM ANDRANIK MARGARYAN

Panorama.am
12:02 25/03/2010

Society

It’s three years today since Armenian Prime Minister Andranik Margaryan
passed away. Accompanied by high ranking officials, President Serzh
Sargsyan visited today the Komitas pantheon and laid a wreath at the
tomb of Andranik Margaryan, President’s press office reported.

KIEV CITY COUNCIL REVOKED DECISION ON SALE OF RA EMBASSY PREMISES

news.am, Armenia
March 25 2010

Kiev city council delisted embassy premises from facilities liable
for privatization, as well as Kiev subway. The relevant decision was
made by city hall counselors this Thursday, RIA Novosti reports.

Earlier, March 2, 108 counselors of 113 voted for the changes in
privatization project.

Under the changes to the Privatization project of municipal property
of Kiev for 2007-2010, embassy premises of Turkey, Croatia, Armenia,
Kyrgyzstan, Cuba, Bulgaria, Romania , Egypt, France, Austria, Czech
Republic, Algeria, as well as consulate of Poland and EC office on
Ukraine were subjected to privatization.

REVITALIZATION OF SHUSHI UNDER WAY

PanARMENIAN.Net
25.03.2010 13:02 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ With its recently initiated reconstruction of
Garegin Nzhdeh and Alec Manoogian streets, two main thoroughfares in
Shushi, NKR, Hayastan All-Armenian Fund has begun to restore the city’s
economic and social infrastructures. The street-revitalization project
is being realized through contributions made by the Russian-Armenian
community during Telethon 2009.

Following the construction of sewage, water-delivery and drainage
systems, the streets and sidewalks (about 950 meters) will be paved and
furbish, and light posts will be installed throughout. The project will
be completed with the installation of 1.5-meter-wide lawns separating
the streets from the sidewalks, Hayastan All Armenian Fund said in
a press release.

"Prior to the launch of this project, the people of Shushi no longer
believed that things would turn to the better in their city," said
Grigori Avanesyan, director of the Shushi Administration’s Urban
Development and Architecture Department.

"These streets in particular had long fallen into disrepair. There is
a great deal of bustle in this part of the city. Residents frequently
use the telephone station and the bank or visit the cultural center,
whereas up till now the streets remained in a terrible state."

Alec Manoogian Street is also home to the fire station and the
much-visited, 1847-built Hovhannes Mkrtich Church, better known as
the Green Church because of the color of its dome.

"This year our main goal is to implement a number of projects
aimed at helping Shushi stand on its feet," said Ara Vardanyan,
executive director of the Hayastan All-Armenian Fund. "I hope that
our revitalization efforts will go a long way in strengthening
Shushi residents’ bond with their city, and not be limited to the
Fund initiatives only."

ELYA HOVHANNISYAN: TURKEY WILL RECOGNIZE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE IN 2015

PanARMENIAN.Net
25.03.2010 15:38 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Armenian astrologer and mathematician Elya
Hovhannisyan predicted acknowledgement of the Armenian Genocide by
Turkey in 2015.

"Armenian-Turkish relations will be normalized by this time and Turkey
will recognize the Armenian Genocide," she told a news conference on
March 25.

The astrologer said Armenia will register great achievements and will
be at the height of success in 2016.

According to her, this success will gradually reduce after 2016,
but Armenians will become a nation spreading intellectual values
throughout the world. "Now, children with unique abilities are born.

They will be entrusted with this mission," she said.

TURKISH-US RELATIONS NEED TO BE ‘RESET,’ AMERICAN EXPERT SAYS

Today’s Zaman, Turkey
March 25 2010

Turkish-US relations, which deteriorated as a result of the approval
of the Armenian "genocide" resolution by the US House Committee on
Foreign Affairs on March 4, need to be "reset," similar to the Obama
administration’s efforts to boost US-Russian ties, Joshua W. Walker, a
senior fellow at the Transatlantic Academy of the German Marshall Fund,
said during a panel discussion at the School of Advanced International
Studies (SAIS) at Johns Hopkins University.

Co-sponsored by the German Marshall Fund of the United States,
SAIS hosted, along with Walker, Natalie Tocci, senior fellow at the
Istituto Affari Internazionali in Rome, and Professor Kemal KiriÅ~_ci
of the political science department at Bogazici University, to debate
US-Turkish relations in a panel discussion called "Moving Beyond the
‘Losing Turkey’ Debate: Turkey’s Transatlantic Value in the Middle
East" on Tuesday.

Walker said during the discussion that Turkey has seen tremendous
progress in the past five to 10 years and has become a dynamic,
self-confident developing country. Walker said Turkey, which was born
out of the ashes of the Ottoman Empire, which ruled the region for 600
years, has acquired a new role and sees itself as the natural leader
of 27 countries that were once part of the Ottoman Empire in the past.

Throughout its history, Turkey has always leaned towards the West,
Walker said, and contrary to the past, it now has a more proactive
foreign policy. Turkey used to design its foreign policy along American
lines, but these times have passed, he added. He mentioned the great
transformation in relations with Syria and remarked on Prime Minister
Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s popularity there.

Although the importance Turkey carries for the US has never decreased,
Walker said US-Turkish relations had enjoyed their best time in 2009
because of frequent mutual visits; however, relations were now going
through their worst period due to the Armenian "genocide" resolution,
he said.

CAMPAIGN AGAINST TUBERCULOSIS

4/tuberculosi
05:51 pm | March 24, 2010

Social

March 24 is the World Tuberculosis Day

Today one could see posters with the words "I Stop Tuberculosis,"
"Armenia without Tuberculosis" in Yerevan’s most crowded places –
in metro stations, in front of churches and squares. Passers-by were
distributing flyers on ttuberculosis and its prevention.

The action was initiated by the RA Ministry of Healthcare,
National Office for Struggle against Tuberculosis and international
organizations.

Narine Mejlumyan, the acting head of the National Office for Struggle
against Tuberculosis, says there are 3446 TB carriers in Armenia
including those already discharged from hospitals. 1474 of them are
under constant supervision.

Tuberculosis is contagious and spreads through the air when a person
with TB of the lungs or throat coughs, sneezes or talks.Communication
with infected people, especially in closed areas, is dangerous. Yet,
the tubercle bacilli are killed by heat under the direct influence
of sun rays.

More than 20 million people die of TB every year. Tuberculosis can
be cured if revealed in due time.

ARMENIA: TEVAN, A CURED PATIENT HELPS OTHERS THROUGH TOUGH DR-TB TREATMENT

Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders)
e.cfm?objectid=8EE37515-15C5-F00A-25A2B696822FB1DD &component=toolkit.article&method=full_htm l
March 24 2010
France

Yerevan, Armenia. February 2010 – With a sturdy build and a firm
handshake, today, Tevan* is a picture of health, but around two years
ago, the cured drug resistant tuberculosis (DR-TB) patient was in
extremely bad shape.

"One day at work I felt unwell and became very weak and could hardly
get into a taxi to come home. For two days I was sick at home with a
high temperature and then I started coughing up blood," said Tevan,
who before he contracted DR-TB was a construction manager.

Before his diagnosis of DR-TB, he lost 20 kilograms and but was
eventually admitted to the programme supervised by MSF in the Armenian
capital Yerevan.

After more than two years of grueling treatment, he is now fully
recovered.

Treatment for DR-TB begins in the national TB centre in the capital,
where patients stay until they are no longer transmitting the
contagious disease, a period that usually take two months.

Following hospitalization, patients can return home and attend an
ambulatory clinic six days per week to receive their doses of drugs
to fight the air-borne disease.

Tavan, like most patients, had to take the toxic drugs for around two
years, a task that requires immense strength of will and support from
the MSF social work and psychological team.

The most recent drugs used to tackle DR-TB were strong antibiotics
developed in the 1940s, and the combination of pills, powders and
injections frequently have severe mental and physical side effects.

"It was really difficult to take these drugs. I was unable to explain
what was happening to me. I was unable to stand, I was unable to walk,
I could not lie down and I felt nauseous," said 50-year-old Tevan.

If patients have pre existing medical conditions, the severity of
the side effects can become unbearable. "If the patient started
(treatment) with gastritis problems, at that time the patient feels
more abdominal pain than the disease," said Dr Shahidul Islam, an
MSF doctor working on the MSF project.

"In that case, sometimes the patient doesn’t want to take the drugs.

They stop taking them because of the side effects," said Dr Shahid.

In the cohort of patients admitted to the MSF supported programme
in 2007, around 21 per cent failed to complete the full course of
treatment, with many saying it was the punishing drug regime that
made them unable to continue.

While being treated and since being cured, Tavan does what he can to
ensure as many patients as possible continue the course of drugs.

"During treatment I gave my experience, so they could see how I was
recovering day by day, so they believe in the treatment and become
stronger in their adherence," said Tavan.

"I always give good advice and told them my example, in what condition
I was when I started treatment. At that time I felt half-dead, and
now I am healthy. Some follow, some don’t."

*Patient names have been changed