Armenia seeks to stem coronavirus spread by tracking phones

EurasiaNet.org
March 31 2020
Ani Mejlumyan Mar 31, 2020

Administrative Court accepts for proceedings Lydian Armenia ex-employees’ lawsuit against Police

News.am, Armenia
April 4 2020

17:10, 04.04.2020
                  

Former employees of Lydian Armenia company have issued a statement informing that the Administrative Court of the Republic of Armenia (RA) has accepted for proceedings their lawsuit against the RA Police.

"As we have already informed, in early March we, 35 former employees of Lydian Armenia who are deprived of their legal jobs due to the illegality over the Amulsar [gold mine] project for almost 2 years, have filed a lawsuit with the RA Administrative Court, demanding to recognize the RA Police inaction as illegal, after which we will demand—through courts—financial compensation from the RA Government for the revenues we lost and expected during the operation of the mine during these two years,” they added, in particular. "We will be consistent in restoring and protecting our violated rights—even all the way to the European Court of Human Rights. During this time, more than 80 former employees also have joined the lawsuit."

They also stated that Lydian Armenia employed about 300 about with an average monthly salary of 600,000 drams, but over the past two years, nearly $70 million in taxes have not been paid to the state budget from the Amulsar project, and the Armenian citizens have been deprived of salaries in excess of $6 million, overall.

Central Bank of Armenia: exchange rates and prices of precious metals

Save

Share

 17:56,

YEREVAN, 30 MARCH, ARMENPRESS. The Central Bank of Armenia informs “Armenpress” that today, 30 March, USD exchange rate up by 2.37 drams to 500.80 drams. EUR exchange rate up by 6.12 drams to 554.34 drams. Russian Ruble exchange rate down by 0.10 drams to 6.30 drams. GBP exchange rate up by 11.31 drams to 620.19 drams.

The Central Bank has set the following prices for precious metals.

Gold price down by 157.20 drams to 26040.3 drams. Silver price down by 0.51 drams to 230.49 drams. Platinum price up by 56.54 drams to 11947.01 drams.

Former French minister Patrick Devedjian dies of COVID-19 | DW | 29.03.2020

A French former cabinet minister and former president of the Parisian Haut-de-Seine administrative district has become one of the first high-profile politicians to die of COVID-19. Patrick Devedjian was 75.

    

A close adviser of former French President Nicolas Sarkozy and former president of a Parisian administrative district has died from COVID-19, the Haut-de-Seine department announced on Sunday.

Patrick Devedjian was the minister in charge of dealing with French recovery from the 2008 financial crisis. The 75-year-old first publicly announced he was suffering from symptoms of the novel coronavirus on Wednesday.

"I am affected by the epidemic, therefore I am able to bear witness directly to the exceptional work of doctors and nurses," he wrote on Twitter earlier in the week. "I'm sending them a big thank you for their constant help to all their patients."

'Free spirit'

Fellow politicians immediately paid tribute to the politician on Twitter.

Former French Prime Minister Manuel Valls praised Devedjian’s "local roots."

"I liked Patrick Devedjian: his frank works, his humor, his local roots. He was affectionate and cultured," he wrote on Twitter.

Mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo tweeted her "great sadness."

"I extend my condolences to his wife and family. I think of our Armenian friends who have lost a brother today."

Anne Hidalgo

@Anne_Hidalgo

C’est une immense tristesse, j’adresse toutes mes condoléances à son épouse et à sa famille. Je pense à nos amis Arméniens qui perdent aujourd’hui un de leur frère . https://twitter.com/bfmparis/status/1244162633244315649 

BFM Paris

@BFMParis

ALERTE INFO. Patrick Devedjian, président des Hauts-de-Seine et ancien ministre est mort du Covid-19https://www.bfmtv.com/societe/patrick-devedjian-president-des-hauts-de-seine-et-ancien-ministre-est-mort-du-covid-19-1884213.html 

754

12:26 AM – Mar 29, 2020
Twitter Ads info and privacy
263 people are talking about this

"Great emotion at the announcement of the death of Patrick Devedjian, former minister, President of the Haut-de-Seine, committed republican, free spirit," President of the National Assembly Richard Ferrand wrote. "My sincere condolences to his relatives and his family."

Richard Ferrand

@RichardFerrand

Grande émotion à l’annonce du décès de Patrick Devedjian, ancien ministre,Président des Hauts de Seine, républicain engagé, esprit libre. Mes sincères condoléances à ses proches et à sa famille.

713

12:35 AM – Mar 29, 2020
Twitter Ads info and privacy
180 people are talking about this

"Great sadness at the death of Patrick Devedjian," French Senate President Gerard Larcher wrote on Twitter. "Brave man and totally devoted to his city of Antony and to Haut-de-Seine. Condolences to his family and those close to him."

The Armenian-French career politician held a number of ministerial positions since entering politics in 1983. He was also mayor of the town of Antony before becoming president of Haut-de-Seine, a department in western Paris.

France currently has over 38,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19, and has recorded more than 2,300 deaths. The country has implemented extensive lockdown measures to try to slow the spread of coronavirus.

ACNIS reView from Yerevan #9, 2020_Editorial_State Administration and Worldview

Editorial  
14 MARCH 2020  

Political philosophy, or worldview, solves a few vital issues.  The main one is consolidating the public around a general value system. Without common understandings and value systems there cannot be a political nation, in whose absence a void arises between governing elites and the people.

Political worldview integrates the personal viewpoints of citizens into shared objectives and aspirations.  It is upon those common tenets that political systems are built.  That is a very important process for any state that wants to create a stable administrative system.

Until 2018 a divide had deepened between the governing class and the public, as a consequence of which quite easily, by "velvet" means there took place a regime change.  The ruling elite did not even try to put up a serious resistance.  That was the result of the government's conceptual bankruptcy.  Time will tell if this served as a lesson for future governments, but so far it does not seem to be the case.

In 2018 the public came together in the name of systemic changes. Such transformation was desired by virtually all, even by members of the ruling party of the time and high-level officials.  It was clear, however, that the previous governing class had lost its political immunity, and the Republican Party representatives their motivation for struggle. Indeed, the most convenient moment for political change had long been missed.

This is the characterization of our not-so-distant past.  Today it seems we stand again before the same problem.  Nearly two years have passed since the change in regime, but many people think that it is still early to expect results from the new authorities.  Time continues to roll forward, whereas the current administration has yet to present to the public any concrete conceptual or ideological proposal that would serve as a foundation for nation-building.

The fight against corruption is the obligation of every government. How effective that policy is being conducted is another matter, and that fight cannot be presented as the content of the government's ideology.  The "struggle" against the constitutional court, the term "proud citizens," the motto "Armenia is my hearth," "velvet, non-violent revolution" and other similar emotional phrases and "struggles" cannot constitute bases of a state's worldview.  These are at best promotional creations which as such have a period of freshness, after which–and especially if subjected to constant repetition–they lose their appeal and influence.

The absence of worldview and state ideology might be perceived as an indicator of democracy, but in that case the meaning of politics boils down merely to the role of serving the interests or inclinations of this or that person or group, while the foundation of state must be the ideas and goals that connect society.  The lack of ideas or, as Mr. Pashinyan says, "isms" only at first glance appears to be an _expression_ of democracy.  In reality it opens the door to anarchy.

The government is unable to formulate and present ideas to the public, but it is inclined to separate and then mobilize its supporters against the "enemies of the people" and thus to build the basis of its power.  That is the reason one can always find people who begin to relate to the authorities as usurpers of state and pursuers of personal gain.  And so the public is split into groupings that hate each other, and hate speech becomes the call of the day.  That is natural, since very little unites the people and division continues to grow.

And it is no surprise that the political struggle unfolds, not about programs of the nation's development, but against this or that group.

 

 


Armenian health minster: We are trying to trace all contacts with coronavirus cases

Panorama, Armenia

Armenia has acquired all the available medications used to treat the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) globally at least on an experimental level, Minister of Health Arsen Torosyan said in a Facebook live on Tuesday, shortly after midnight.

In the minister’s words, all the drugs that have proven effective in treating the disease in different countries are now in their arsenal and in active use.

Commenting on the spike in the coronavirus cases in Armenia from 194 to 235 on Tuesday, the minister said the figure shows the result of two days since fewer coronavirus tests were carried out on Sunday, stating the cases have dropped from Saturday.

“We are trying to trace all contacts, isolating cases or telling them to self-isolate,” Torosyan stressed.

According to the health minister, a total of 6 coronavirus patients are being treated at the intensive care unit of the Yerevan infectious disease hospital at the moment, but none of them are in life-threatening condition.

He stated some of the coronavirus cases have no symptoms at all.

Also, the minister said they hope a large number of patients will be declared cured on Tuesday, as well as some 50-70 people put in a 14-day quarantine will be allowed to return home after undergoing final coronavirus tests.

The first coronavirus patient's wife, who tested positive for the virus for some time, is expected to be discharged from the hospital on Tuesday as well, the minister said.

ARF-D representative: US decision on ending assistance to Karabakh will give Baku green light

News.am, Armenia

17:03, 23.03.2020
                  

If the US Congress supports the White House’s approach and ends assistance to Nagorno-Karabakh, this will be a message to Azerbajian that the US fully shares Baku’s position on its anti-Armenian policy and ceasefire violations. This is what Director of the Bureau for the Armenian Cause and Political Affairs of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation-Dashnaktsutyun political party Kiro Manoyan told Armenian News-NEWS.am today.

According to him, with this, Washington will no longer be a fair and neutral intermediary of the OSCE Minsk Group, taking into consideration Washington’s aspiration to increase financial assistance to Azerbaijan and cut humanitarian assistance to Nagorno-Karabakh by only a couple of million dollars. “This won’t contribute to the process of negotiations since it will give Aliyev a green light to lead his anti-Armenian policy,” he emphasized.

Manoyan stated that this isn’t the first time Azerbaijan is opposing the position of the Trump administration and trying to change it. “Last year, the Azerbaijani lobby was close to achieving its goal to see the US cancel or cut assistance. As we can see, the lobby is making efforts even today on the background of the new position that the White House has expressed, saying that demining had to have been completed. This decision may also be linked to the varying positions of Armenia and Azerbaijan on certain processes unfolding in the region," he said.

Kiro Manoyan also recalled that 75 Congressmen of 23 States have signed a letter to support increase of funding to Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh in 2021.

Syrian-Armenian legislator Nora Arissian awarded by Culture Minister al-Ahmad for contributions

awarded by Culture Minister al-Ahmad for contributions

Save

Share

 14:10, 9 March, 2020

YEREVAN, MARCH 9, ARMENPRESS. The Ministry of Culture of Syria has awarded Member of Parliament Nora Arissian for her contribution in developing the culture of the Arab Republic.

Arissian is a Syrian-Armenian historian and translator serving as Member of Parliament of Syria since 2016. She is the Chair of the Syria-Armenia Parliamentary Friendship Group.

The awarding ceremony took place on March 8th at the National Opera House in Damascus within the framework of the inauguration of a cultural festival.

Minister of Culture Mohammad al-Ahmad bestowed the awards. A number of other figures were also awarded.

 

Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan

Azerbaijani press: Armenian Armed Forces open fire in direction of Azerbaijan’s Nakhchivan – Ministry

BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 12

Trend:

The Armenian Armed Forces opened fire on the positions of Azerbaijan’s Nakhchivan Separate Combined Arms Army, Trend reports on March 12 referring to the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry.

“The Armenian Armed Forces have grossly violated the ceasefire regime with Azerbaijan since morning, shelling the positions of the Nakhchivan Separate Combined Arms Army,” the statement said.

“The positions of the Nakhchivan Separate Combined Arms Army were mainly shot at with heavy machine guns and sniper rifles from the Armenian armed forces’ positions located on the slopes of Tejgar and Bagarsig mountains in Armenia’s Ararat region,” the statement said.

“The personnel of the Separate Combined Arms Army are taking decisive retaliatory measures,” the statement said. “The consequences of the shelling are being investigated.”

President Sarkissian bestows diplomatic ranks to a number of diplomats

Save

Share

 14:23, 2 March, 2020

YEREVAN, MARCH 2, ARMENPRESS. President of Armenia Armen Sarkissian signed a decree on bestowing diplomatic ranks on the occasion of the Diplomat’s Day, his Office told Armenpress.

According to the Presidential decree, the following diplomat has been bestowed with the rank of Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary:

Vahagn Atabekyan – Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Armenia to Lebanon

According to another decree, the President bestowed the rank of Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to the following diplomats:

Yuri Babakhanyan – advisor at the department of Middle East and Africa in Armenia’s foreign ministry

Vahe Gevorgyan – advisor to the Armenian foreign minister

Anahit Harutyunyan – Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Armenia to Canada

 

The President signed the respective decrees based on the prime minister’s proposal.

 

Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan