Author: Vatche Chakhmakhchian

A Protocol to amend the existing Double Taxation Avoidance Convention was signed by the Government of India and the Government of Armenia here today, reports.

The Protocol amends the Double Taxation Avoidance Convention between India and Armenia that has been in existence since 9th September, 2004. The Protocol amends the Article on Exchange of Information for tax purposes to bring it in line with the updated provisions in the OECD Model. The Protocol will enable the two countries to exchange information related to financial and banking transactions under the Double Taxation Avoidance Convention, and thereby facilitate them in addressing tax evasion. It is also expected to further strengthen the efforts of Government of India in curbing generation of black money.

The Amending Protocol was signed by Shri Arun Kumar Jain, Chairman, Central Board of Direct Taxes(CBDT), on behalf of Government of India and by H.E. Mr Armen Martirosyan, the Ambassador of Armenia to India, on behalf of the Government of Armenia.

Armenian Premier League club FC Ararat Yerevan and the North American Soccer League champion New York Cosmos will play the Fresno Fuego in a pair of February exhibitions, the local Premier Development League franchise announced Tuesday, the reports.

The Fuego will host FC Ararat on Feb. 18 and the Cosmos on Feb. 24, with both matches set for 6:30 p.m. kickoffs at Chukchansi Park.

Henrikh Mkhitaryan has been voted the player of Matchday 16. The Armenian international convinced the voters with his impressive performance in the match against Eintracht Frankfurt.

With 54 percent of the ballot Mkhitaryan clearly won the first place in the voting on 

Dortmund began determined to make amends and immediately went on the attack. They had a couple of half-chances early on, but it was Frankfurt who broke the deadlock when Alex Meier fired in from the edge of the area following a swift counterattack.

BVB fought back, however, with Henrikh Mkhitaryan equalizing from close range following Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s pass.

Aubameyang should have scored just before the break, but he missed a penalty after Slobodan Medojevic felled Gonzalo Castro in the box – an offence for which the Eagles defender received a second yellow. It was one-way traffic towards the Frankfurt box in the second half and eventually the pressure took its toll, with Aubameyang, Mats Hummels and Adrian Ramos each scoring excellent goals to give Thomas Tuchel’s men a thoroughly deserved victory.

On December 11, 2015, U.S. and Armenian law enforcement officers were joined by other government officials and NGO representatives at a day-long working group to discuss ways to end the cycle of domestic violence that affects many homes in Armenia.

“Countries are more peaceful and prosperous when women are accorded full and equal rights and have opportunities to succeed,” said Clark Price, Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Yerevan, as he opened the workshop in Yerevan. “Violence hinders the ability of citizens to fully participate in and contribute to their families, communities, and nation – economically, politically, and socially.”

Recent research by the OSCE revealed that 60% of respondents in Armenia, mostly female, noted they had been subjected to at least one form of domestic violence during their lifetimes. The workshop’s participants discussed ways all sectors of society can work together to reduce that number.

“Seeing so many active Armenian offices and organizations — our partners from the Armenian Police, the Investigative Committee, the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, international organizations, and civil society groups – come together means, I hope, we will make progress in ending domestic violence,” DCM Price said.

Joining the Armenian attendees were two experts from the Las Vegas, Nevada Police Department: Lieutenants Kelly McMahill and Jamie Prosser. The pair spent more than a week in Armenia meeting with their peers and touring facilities designed to aid the victims of domestic violence.

The day-long workshop was the latest in the Embassy’s efforts to aid Armenians in fighting domestic violence. In November 2014, the Embassy organized a study tour for Armenian police officers to travel to Seattle and meet with their peers. In April 2015, the Embassy conducted a needs assessment to gather information on the current capacity of Armenia’s law enforcement agencies to deal with crimes of domestic violence. That assessment highlighted the importance of including other government agencies in the effort. A second study tour was organized in August 2015, through which the Embassy took representatives from the Investigative Committee and the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs to meet with the Las Vegas Metro Police Department.

Moving forward, the Embassy, its Armenian partners, and the U.S. experts will focus on three areas:  raising awareness and providing training in communities where crisis centers have been built; establishing an interdisciplinary working group focused on the development of uniform procedures to ensure consistency and efficiency across agencies investigating domestic violence cases; and creating a referral mechanism to improve coordination among the different agencies that have a role in fighting domestic violence.

24.26 percent of the eligible voters participated in the referendum on Constitutional changes as of 14:00, the Central Referendum Commission reported.

Province	Total number of eligible voters	Voter turnout (preliminary)	%
Yerevan	845,885	196,596	23.24
Aragatsotn	115,363	30,019	26.02
Ararat	217,789	66,341	30.46
Armavir	229,554	57,391	25.00
Gegharkunik	187,876	43,721	23.27
Lori	238,048	52,333	21.98
Kotayk	235,549	54,769	23.25
Shirak	230,562	43,359	18.81
Syunik	109,448	37,073	33.87
Vayots Dzor	47,149	13,321	28.25
Tavush	109,487	27,720	25.32
Total	2,566,730	622,643	24.26

The OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs will hold consultations in Germany today, US Co-Chair of the OSCE Minsk Group James Warlick has tweeted.

The meeting comes ahead of the forthcoming German presidency of the OSCE.

“We look forward today to consultations with Germany, the incoming chairman-in-office of OSCE. Let’s work together for Nagorno Karabakh peace,” Warlick said.

Three people have been shot and one is reported to be critically wounded at Tennessee State University in Nashville, US police say.

The entrance to the university is reported to have blocked off. There is no indication that an attacker is still active, AP news agency reports.

The gunfire is reported to have started on Thursday night.

The latest incident comes a week after three people were wounded by gunfire at an off-campus party near the college.

Nestor Kirchner, former and late Argentine President was honored on Wednesday, October 14 by the Armenian Cultural Association as a “gratitude” for the promulgation on 11 January 2007 of the National Law 26,199 that declares April 24 of every year as “Action Day for Tolerance and Respect between Peoples” in commemoration of the genocide that was inflicted on the Armenian people, reports.

“Genocide has crossed our lives, from our parents and grandparents. It has gone through the lives of our children, because there are wounds that remain open if they are not repaired. Societies need to close their wounds to continue to build, rediscover and grow,” said the Director of the National Institute Against Discrimination, Xenophobia and Racism Pedro Mouratian, one of the precursors of Law 26,199 that officially recognizes the Armenian genocide. “That is the greatest legacy that has left us Nestor Kirchner. He helped the Argentine society and us to recover that ability.”

In telling the story of how they managed to pass Law 26,199, he recalled that the doors of the Parliament “were always open,” but with a “question mark” that was the “final political decision” related to how far “the Turkish lobby had penetrated the Argentinean state.”

National Law 26,199, approved by the House of Representatives on November 29, 2006 and by the Senate on December 13 of that year, after the efforts of the Armenian National Committee of South America, was a precedent to other recognitions of states and international organizations. “A law that came to repair the struggle and the collective memory of the Armenian community, which is an inseparable part of all the groups that make up the Argentine people,” said Hugo Kuyumdjian, President of the Armenian Cultural Association.

In 1995, both houses had approved Law 24,559 that declared April 24 as the “Day of Repudiation and Discrimination Combat of Man against Man” and recognized the Armenian Genocide, but President Carlos Menem vetoed it under the Decree 562 on October 10 of that year. According to Kuyumdjian, the veto was an “injury to all those who fought for human rights” because it was “influenced by political lobbying exerted by the embassy of Turkey in our country.”

“The Turkish state must understand that the avant-garde position of our country on human rights and its position on the genocide against the Armenians, are not a matter for negotiation,” he added.

 

 

 

Ara Abrahamyan, President of the Union of Armenians of Russia, will create a new party. He revealed the plans at a press conference at the National Academy of Sciences today.

“A huge team, comprising not only Armenian and Russian, but also foreign specialists is working to elaborate the ideology and platform of the party,” he said.

Abrahamyan added he had discussed the plans of establishing a new party with Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan.

“Why not? The President told me. Create a party, try if you have decided to be helpful to Armenia,” Ara Abrahamyan said.

 

 

 

President of the Venice Commission Gianni Buquicchio has said Armenia’s draft Constitutional reforms are a step forward towards further development of democracy.

He said the document has been positively assessed by the Venice Commission, but stressed the importance of organizing the referendum in a free, fair and transparent way.

Mr. Buquicchio has arrived in Armenia to participate in an international conference organized by the Constitutional Court.

President of the Armenian Constitutional Court Gagik Harutyunyan, head of the professional commission on Constitutional reforms said everything will be useless, if the referendum is not held in compliance with the letter and spirit of the law.