Author: Vardan Badalian

ArmInfo.The day before in Yerevan, the opening of the 23rd World Congress on Information Technologies (WCIT-2019) was marked by a grand open-air concert.

In the first part of the concert, a unique orchestra performed under  the direction of conductor Sergey Smbatyan, uniting over 100  musicians from 15 countries of the world. In addition to Armenia,  these were the states in which the Congress was previously held:  Canada, the Netherlands, Malaysia, the USA, Greece, Taipei, Spain,  Japan, France, Denmark, Mexico, Brazil, Australia, India.

As part of the performance, music created by artificial intelligence  (AI) was performed for the first time, and the national anthem of the  countries represented by the musicians of the orchestra formed the  basis of the written hymn WCIT-2019.

The second part of the concert was assigned to the Grammy Award  winner, the world famous Dutch DJ and music producer Armin Van  Buuren. During his enchanting performance, he actively communicated  with tens of thousands of spectators gathered on Republic Square. In  the final part of his show, Armin Van Buuren raised the Armenian flag  above his head, which caused great enthusiasm among fans of  electronic music. The concert ended with colorful fireworks.

WCIT 2019 will be held in Yerevan on October 6-9, 2019. The congress  is held by Armenia with the assistance and under the high patronage  of the RA government. The World Congress on Information Technology  (WCIT) was established by the World Alliance for Information  Technology and Services (WITSA). Its main organizational body is the  Union of Advanced Technology Enterprises (UATE).

Broadway World

Sept 24 2019

by BWW News Desk

BroadwayWorld.com Sep. 24, 2019   

Zabelle, Nancy Kricorian's award-winning novel about one woman's survival of the Armenian Genocide is being produced by Egg & Spoon as part of its third season. The piece was originally created and produced at Syracuse University's Department of Drama in 2015. It was directed and adapted by Leslie Noble, a professor in the department, and devised by an ensemble of four performance students: Sarineh Garapetian, Julián Garnik, Catherine Giddings, and Lindsey Newton.

Those four artists will return to the piece almost five years later to launch Egg & Spoon's 2019-2020 Season at Access Theater.

"The experience of adapting Ms. Kricorian's powerful story of survival and directing a performance with these extraordinary young people was on that has stayed with me over the years," says Leslie Noble. "The students are now teachers. The story continues."

The idea to adapt Kricorian's novel came from Sarineh Garapetian, who now serves as a producer, when she was a sophomore at Syracuse. Her intention was to perform it in April 2015 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. "When it got closer to the centennial, I felt that it was important to have a piece that would not blame but inform others, about a time in history that many of my classmates didn't know about," Garapetian states. "But working on the piece became about much more than that – it started a conversation. Audience members began sharing their own stories, in response to ours. And ultimately, this conversation is what made producing Zabelle feel that much more important."

In the suburbs of Boston, Zabelle Chasbanian's life is nearing an end. And as her present is fading, a distant and forgotten history is reemerging to the surface: her childhood as a refugee during the Armenian Genocide. "Through Zabelle we humanize the one and a half million Armenians lost in the genocide," said Adam Coy, director. "While growing up in a Jewish household, my mother instilled the phrase, 'we must remember.' We must remember to honor the many senselessly lost to persecution, and we must remember so that we don't allow it to happen again."

Zabelle runs November 14-17 at Access Theater in SoHo. Tickets can be purchased at www.eggandspoontheatre.org/zabelle.

ArmInfo. Starting in 2020, the Armenian government will start implementing new programs to stimulate the birth rate, as well as to promote young families and families  with children. This, according to the office of Deputy Prime Minister  Tigran Avinyan, he said at a meeting of the Council on improving the  demographic situation.

"The government is decisive in improving the demographic situation in  the country, so based on the results of discussions at the last  meeting, we can fix that in 2020 we will start new programs to  stimulate the birth rate, as well as to help young families and  families with children," he said.

Thus, according to Avinyan, since 2020:

1. The lump-sum allowance for the birth of the first child will be  increased 6-fold from 50 thousand drams to 300 thousand drams.  2.  The size of the one-time allowance for the birth of a second child  will be doubled – from 150 thousand drams to 300 thousand drams.  3.  The monthly allowance for working mothers will be increased by about  41% – from 18 thousand drams to 25 thousand drams.  4. A new type of  childcare allowance will be introduced in rural areas: until the  child is two years old, mothers will be paid 25.5 thousand drams a  month.

5. Work will be carried out to phase out such a vicious phenomenon as  the "wait list to kindergartens." In preschool and school  institutions, work will be carried out to expand the services of  extended care and training, in particular, care will be organized  according to the principle of co-financing from 08:30am to 7:00pm. As  a result, the working parent should be able to organize the care of  the child in preschool or school institutions located near the place  of residence or work.  6. Since 2020, ambitious programs will be  launched, under which the state will provide both lump-sum cash  assistance and prepaid insurance in the regions to purchase housing  on a mortgage due to the birth of a child. The preliminary budget of  the program will be approximately 500 million drams. According to the  Deputy Prime Minister, the amount will be more than enough as a  start.  In parallel, work will be carried out on targeted housing  programs in the regions, and the Committee for Urban Planning is  already doing this.

According to Tigran Avinyan, these programs are only the beginning,  and from 2021 a new national ideology should be discussed. "That is,  discussions should be held in advance, but from 2021 three children  in a family should become the average norm for us. And all our  programs should aim to ensure that from 2021 any average family in  Armenia has the desire and opportunity to have at least three  children, "he said.

To recall, on August 5, speaking at a rally in Stepanakert, Prime  Minister Nikol Pashinyan named bringing the country's population to 5  million by 2050 among the global challenges facing the state.

ArmInfo. In the event of  gaining access to the Amulsar mine, Lydian International plans to  resume construction work no earlier than in April-May 2020. Further,  if everything goes according to the schedule, the first gold bar is  expected no earlier than the end of 2020 or the first quarter of  2021. The Interim President of Lydian International, Edward Sellers  stated this during a regular discussion in the government under the  leadership of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on the Amulsar program.

Thus, according to the video posted by Pashinyan on his Facebook  page, during the discussion on September 7, the head of the Armenian  government first of all asked the company representatives for  guarantees regarding the prevention of negative environmental  consequences in the form of pollution of soil, air, water and  biodiversity for the city of Jermuk (the Amulsar gold mine is located  10 kilometers from Jermuk -ed. note) and neighboring communities. In  response, Edward Sellers said the company was not interested in  pollution and environmental damage. He reaffirmed the company's  obligations under the EIA (Environmental Impact Assessment), which  would mean the conservation of biodiversity and mitigation of  environmental threats.

Then Nikol Pashinyan asked the responsible state officials whether  Armenia had the tools and levers for registering and responding to  all kinds of violations. As the Minister of the Nature Protection  Erik Grigoryan pointed out, according to the legislation of Armenia,  from January 1, 2018, all mining companies are required to monitor  the quality of air, water, biodiversity, waste and provide data not  only to the authorized body, but also publish them. According to  those in charge of the field, in case of detection of environmental  risks and violation of obligations undertaken by the Lydian  management, the mine operator company will be given 90 days to  eliminate the violations. Otherwise, the mine will be closed.

Summing up the discussion, Nikol Pashinyan noted that the Lydian  company at the highest level confirms the commitments made under the  EIA. "This means that the quality of air, water, soil, fauna and  biodiversity will not change as a result of the operation of the  mine," he explained. In addition, as the prime minister pointed out,  Lydian is ready to provide the Government of Armenia and civil  society representatives with access to the data of the monitoring  conducted by the company. "We also record that in case of deviation  from the EIA, the company is given a certain period of time to bring  the work in line with the document. We also note that by the end of  2020 the Armenian government will have its own monitoring system,  which does not cancel the shared use of Lydian's monitoring system's  capabilities", Nikol Pashinyan concluded.

To recall, the Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan said live on  Facebook today that at the moment there are no legal grounds to  prohibit the operation of the Amulsar mine. Nikol Pashinyan also  officially called on the residents of Jermuk to unblock all roads  leading to the Amulsar mine.

The reaction of the Jermuk residents was not long in coming – the  residents of the resort city said that the situation in the community  was tense and they were offended by the call of the prime minister.  According to them, Jermuk residents are not going to open the road.  So, as stated in the statement of the initiative group "I am against  the mining industry in Amulsar", today at 8:30pm the residents of the  resort town of Jermuk will gather for a private discussion in  connection with the call to unblock the roads to Amulsar.  "After the  discussion, we will make a statement. Amulsar is our homeland and  that's final," the statement reads.

To note, Lydian Armenia is a subsidiary of the British Lydian  International. The life of the deposit will be 10 years and 4 months,  with an average of 200 thousand ounces of gold planned to be mined  annually.  Amulsar field is the second largest reserve in Armenia.  According to the company, the deposit contains about 73733 kg of gold  with an average grade of 0.78 g per ton, as well as 294.367 tons of  silver with an average grade 9.29 g per ton.

The operation  of the field will allow to increase the country's GDP  by 1% – 4%, 1% of which will be a direct impact. Finished products,  which will be almost completely exported, will be about $ 250  million. As a result, the impact on export growth is estimated at  about 10%.

Nevertheless, local ecologists do not share the enthusiasm of the  government about the attractiveness of the mine exploitation plan.  The Amulsar mine is located in the valley of the Arpa and Vorotan  rivers, in the immediate vicinity of the spa town of Jermuk, famous  for its mineral springs, and not far from the largest freshwater lake  in the region, Sevan. Environmentalists fear that the exploitation of  the field, during which sodium cyanide will be used, could lead to  the oxidation of water in rivers. Contaminated waters will become  unsuitable for drinking and irrigation and may cause irreparable harm  to the mineral springs of Jermuk and the ecosystem of Sevan.

What has been happening in Armenia over the past 20 years and in what way has the country been "run"? To form a clear view of this, suffice it to look at what is happening in the ore mining industry: This is a picture of the situation in deep colours.

New leadership trying to 'curb despoilment', balance interests

The reality is quite "in conformity with the law". Everything "is correct on the books". However, this fails to ease the feeling that the country has been subject to an illegal seizure. After all, what kind of business is this and how can it be "useful" for the state, when mine owners are reaping large profits, leaving us with poisonous tailing dumps with an obscure future.

The political team, which assumed responsibility for the future of the country after the [Velvet] Revolution, is trying to develop measures to curb the despoilment, which is taking place in the sphere and to balance the mine owners' interests and those of the country and society, at the least. In this context, the Lydian company's programme of the Amuslar [gold mine] is a kind of exam, which the state still has to take to society and investors.

At any rate, it should be said that what has been happening in the ore mining industry is absolutely unacceptable and this was repeatedly said even before the revolution. It was also said that if we got rid of the logic of corruption, there was no explanation for all this. Correspondingly, putting things to order in this sphere is by and large also necessary in terms of systemic corruption.

PM to choose between 'lesser of two evils'

In his public speeches, Prime Minister [Nikol] Pashinyan has presented a new approach in this direction: Zero litres of dirty water [poured] in the environment. For their part, environmentalists have raised the following question: How realistic is it to be using cyanide technologies, exploding rocks, [covering everything with] dust, and so forth, particularly in the case of Amuslar with its geographical location and possible interaction with the mineral water basin, rivers, and water reservoirs feeding Lake Sevan?

What will become of the tailing dumps created in different regions of Armenia, which are "correct on the books" and "safe"? What commitments do the companies, which are the authors of these tailing dumps, assume to rehabilitate these territories and within what timeframes? Does anyone intend to raise the issue? Except the animation clip presented by the Lydian company, which society has the right not to trust, no other company has said a single word about what will become of the tailing dumps created as a result of their activities and what will become of the territories, where raw materials are mined – in Zod, Syunik, Lori, and so forth?

In fact, Pashinyan has to choose between the lesser of the two evils. Therefore, he made a statement about the need in meeting the country's balanced interest. On the one hand, it is obvious that had Lydian or some other company submitted a mining claim in Armenia today, they would unambiguously get a refusal. At least, we have reasons to think so based on the [list of] priorities for the country's development, which have been repeatedly and publicly voiced and which does not include expansion of the industry. However, on the other hand, being a civilised country, Armenia has taken a number of international commitments regarding investments and investors, and the economic revolution and the ambitious objectives set for 2050 are not achievable without investments and investors.

Armenia, green activist to expand their capabilities

However, in the 21st century, one of the most important criteria for a civilised country is environmental culture, as well as the strictest observance of [international] standards, which the state is supposed to be a guarantor of. Correspondingly, yet another question remains open: Does the state have relevant institutional, inspective, and expert capabilities to "catch" the hypothetical "litre" leaking into the environment, as well as the hand, which pours this "litre" into the environment, keeping the state in the dark? I think that the state has to additionally convince society that it does have capabilities of the kind.

In this regard, the environmental movement has to carry out the most important mission in Armenia, encouraging the state to efficiently work in this direction. However, this is possible, provided the movement first and foremost holds back from the environmentally extremist philosophy, which is effectively destructive, halting progress and carrying a big risk of being turned into "useful idiots" within the frameworks of the interests of others. (We have European experience, when during the Cold War, Soviet special services channelled sincere concerns of a concrete segment of people into [a desirable direction].) And also, Armenian environmental activists need to increase their capabilities, so as to have concrete equipment at hand to help them to support their arguments with facts.

There is no doubt that in the long run, Armenia should be cleared of mines. Armenia should have enough money to buy all sorts of raw minerals for its industry, rather than sell crude minerals in order to just have money. Today's Armenia already has something, but this is apparently insufficient. So far, our country has not reached this level. We have no Tesla or Silicon Valley of our own, where dozens of companies with multi-billion turnover would work. And the discussion, which was sparked in society, should speed up the country's development, rather than poison the atmosphere and in moral terms, too. To this end, we need rules of the game. Is this possible? Armenian society has repeatedly proven that anything is possible.

Armenia apprehends two internationally wanted Indian terror suspects

10:10, 22 August, 2019

YEREVAN, AUGUST 22, ARMENPRESS. Two Indian terror suspects have been apprehended by Armenian authorities in Yerevan, the National Security Service (NSS) said in a news release.

The two citizens of India – both wanted internationally on charges of terrorism and murder – arrived in the Armenian capital on the Istanbul-Yerevan flight on August 8, 2019. The NSS said they received a Red Notice by Interpol and one of the suspects was apprehended and detained on the same day. The other suspect was apprehended while trying to cross the Bagratashen border checkpoint on August 14^th.

Both have been placed under arrest. The NSS said the two nationals of India are charged with a number of crimes, including terrorism and murder.

Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan

Tactical communication line with Azerbaijan is working stably, says FM

15:16, 22 August, 2019

YEREVAN, AUGUST 22, ARMENPRESS. The tactical communication created between Armenia and Azerbaijan is functioning rather stable, Minister of Foreign Affairs Zohrab Mnatsakanyan told reporters.

Asked about a potential new meeting with Azerbaijani counterpart Elmar Mammadyarov, Mnatsakanyan noted that meetings continue and the negotiations didn’t stop.

“The last time I spoke about this was during the press conference with Uruguay’s minister, I said that as we always do, we will announce the meeting at an agreed time”.