12:06,
YEREVAN, JANUARY 24, ARMENPRESS. Acting Police Chief of Armenia Arman Sargsyan has sacked Yerevan’s police chief Colonel Garik Ghukasyan, the law enforcement agency told ARMENPRESS.
Sargsyan has appointed Colonel Armen Gasparyan to serve as the new head of Yerevan police.
Gasparyan was serving as Police Chief of Tavush Province before the appointment.
Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan
10:58,
YEREVAN, JANUARY 24, ARMENPRESS. The United Nations General Assembly has proclaimed 24 January as International Day of Education, in celebration of the role of education for peace and development.
On the occasion of this day Armenia’s minister of education, science, culture and sport Arayik Harutyunyan said on Facebook that “education is the best investment we can have for our success”.
“We will do everything for Armenia’s education system to be able to ensure the best future of the talented individuals of our country years later. We have launched systematic reforms at various levels – preschool education, general education and higher education”, the minister said, adding that now it is necessary to use the existing opportunities to learn something new every day.
Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan
11:25,
YEREVAN, JANUARY 24, ARMENPRESS. FC Astana of Kazakhstan have signed midfielder Tigran Barseghyan of the Armenian National Football Team.
The Kazakh club said they signed a two-year contract with the Armenian footballer.
Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan
12:18,
YEREVAN, JANUARY 24, ARMENPRESS. The Special Investigations Service has denied Constitutional Court Chairman Hrayr Tovmasyan’s lawyer Amram Makinyan’s allegations that the authorities haven’t produced the court search warrant for carrying out a search operation in Tovmasyan’s apartment.
Authorities said the lawyer’s claims are “obvious disinformation”.
“We find it noteworthy to inform that the persons, including the lawyers, participating in the search conducted by the detective have been given the chance as prescribed by due process to get acquainted with the warrant,” the Special Investigations Service said,
“We urge Hrayr Tovmasyan’s defense team to act within the framework of law and refrain from making false and misleading statements,” the agency said.
Earlier, Tovmasyan’s lawyer Makinyan spoke to reporters outside the Constitutional Court president’s apartment and said that the detectives have arrived to conduct a search. “There is a court warrant. The search hasn’t yet started because the head of the investigative group is obstructing the full exercise of our rights. Particularly, Tovmasyan and one of his other lawyers Mihran Poghosyan haven’t been enabled to get acquainted with the court warrant in its entirety. We have filed a respective motion”.
Tovmasyan is charged with misconduct in a criminal investigation into an alleged crime committed during his tenure as minister of justice.
Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan
13:35,
YEREVAN, JANUARY 24, ARMENPRESS. Deputy Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sports Arevik Anapiosyan’s Yerevan apartment has been burglarized.
Anapiosyan herself confirmed to ARMENPRESS that the incident has taken place. She refused to give further details.
Yerevan police, in turn, said the burglary took place sometime between January 19 – 23. The perpetrator or perpetrators broke into the apartment through the balcony and stole gold jewelry, gold watches and cash, police said.
Authorities are investigating the incident.
Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan
13:52,
YEREVAN, JANUARY 24, ARMENPRESS. Beijing healthcare officials have declared the highest level of public health alert at 14:00 local time amid the coronovirus outbreak in China.
The Beijing Healthcare Committee said emergency countermeasures will be taken to tackle the outbreak.
29 confirmed cases are reported in the Chinese capital.
Numerous cultural venues have been shut down as a precaution. The Forbidden City is also closed for visitors.
Earlier China widened a lockdown in Hubei province – the centre of the coronavirus outbreak – as the death toll climbed to 26.
Ten cities are now put on lockdown in Hubei.
The virus has spread across China and to countries as far as Japan, Thailand and the US.
Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan
14:52,
YEREVAN, JANUARY 24, ARMENPRESS. Armenian emergency services have dispatched a search and rescue team after a hiking group made a 911 distress call 13km east from the village of Nshkhark in the Gegharkunik Province.
According to the Ministry of Emergency Situations, the group of hikers in distress are six Russian nationals. One of them has fallen ill.
Other details weren’t immediately clear.
Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan
15:19,
YEREVAN, JANUARY 24, ARMENPRESS. The use of plastic bags will be banned in Armenia starting from January 1, 2022, but with some exceptions.
Deputy minister of environment Irina Ghaplanyan told a press conference in Armenpress that the exceptions will include the bags for food packaging, trash bags which are made of a secondary raw material. The alternative to plastic bags is going to be the paper and cloth bags.
“At this period we are actively working with all concerned sides. We held discussions with the representatives of bag producers, restaurants, stores and NGOs. We introduced them the program details. We have started the awareness campaign two years before the launch of the ban so that the producers can revise their work and consume the production volumes”, Irina Ghaplanyan said.
Head of the department of environmental strategy programs and monitoring at the ministry Lusine Avetisyan said a large volume of plastic bags is circulated in Armenia annually. But after this ban comes into force it is expected to get 4 thousand tons of plastic bags out of circulation.
“The plastic bags, which later turn into waste, are not degraded for years which negatively affects our environment. This change is not going to be an additional burden for the consumer, as there will be an alternative to the plastic bags”, Lusine Avetisyan said.
The ministry will carry out an active awareness-raising work among the public to make them know what negative impact the plastic bags, the plastic in general have on the human health and the environment.
Getting the plastic bags out of the circulation is the first step. The ministry is also discussing other initiatives. In particular, it considers introducing the payback system. What does it mean? The bottles made of plastic, aluminum, glass are recyclable. In developed countries there are devices in shopping centers which accept these containers and give citizens a coupon which they can use in supermarkets. Currently research is underway to understand what regulations need to be carried out.
Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan
15:54,
YEREVAN, JANUARY 24, ARMENPRESS. Convicted murderer Ashot Manukyan has been paroled after serving 24 years from his life sentence.
He was released from prison on January 24, his lawyer Narek Aloyan told ARMENPRESS.
He had been found guilty of murdering three servicemen and was sentenced to death penalty when capital punishment was still used in Armenia. Then, when it was abolished, his sentence was changed to life imprisonment.
Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan
15:36,
YEREVAN, JANUARY 24, ARMENPRESS. Charles, Prince of Wales has visited the Armenian Church of Bethlehem’s Church of the Nativity on January 24, Chancellor of the Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem Hovnan Baghdasaryan said on Facebook.
Grand Sacristan of the Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem Archbishop Sevan Gharibian greeted Prince Charles at the church. On behalf of the Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem, the archbishop thanked Prince Charles for the visit and gifted him an Armenian ceramic plate.
The archbishop also presented to Prince Charles the history of Armenian presence in the Holy Land.
“His Eminence also remembered the famous sentence of Hitler “Who after all remembers the Armenian Genocide?” And hoped that instead of might the justice will become right”, Baghdasaryan said.
Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan