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President received participants of the Ministerial Summit of the Ministers of Education of the EU Eastern Partnership and BSEC
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Daily Archives: October 19, 2013
A Number of Facilities To Be Completed
A Cabinet sitting was held today, chaired by Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan.
The Government made redistributions in the 2013 State budget and amended one of its earlier decisions to allocate AMD61mn to the Ministry of Urban Development to implement expenditure programs, complete the ongoing construction sites with no due dates designed to provide financial support (reasonable proportion) of design documents, pay for the services rendered in 2012-2013.
In this context, Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan addressed the issue of monitoring and completing the State-owned and unfinished construction sites: “The point is that we have an obligation to provide welfare housing to the citizens of certain social groups. It will cost us far less, if we complete the unfinished sites rather than start new ones. If there are any unfinished facilities, it is advisable to spend money on them. The same applies to unfinished facilities in the private sector. There are many buildings unfinished for more than 10 years now, and we can not watch them fall into decrepitude. We have to make a decision about what to do, if the private sector does not comply with the obligation of bringing them to completion. As a result, many problems arise due to these issues, which need discussing and tackling, inclusive of penalties or judicial processes.”
The Government has set an export insurance company in line with the government’s export- oriented industrial strategy. The company is meant to safeguard the bank of exporters or exporting company from the risk of non-payment by the borrower or buyer, create new ways insurance schemes for banks, lower interest rates and expand the banks’ coverage of export operations.
The Government amended one of its earlier decisions, allocating AMD8mn to Veterinary and Phytosanitary Laboratory Service Center SNCO for the purchase of materials and supplies necessary for honey expertise.
With the next decision, the Executive approved standards, health certification procedures and certification forms applicable to honey and other bee products fit for human consumption and due for export toward the European Union.
The meeting decided to earmark AMD22.5mn to the Ministry of Culture for transfer to Minas Avetisyan charitable foundation in order to ensure the fixation and restoration of “Armenia” fresco by Minas Avetisyan now on display at the House of Culture in Vahramaberd village of Shirak Marz. To remind, in the period 2010-2012, the Foundation fixed, restored and moved a number of key works by Minas Avetisyan, including “Meeting,” “Khachkar,” “Carpet Weaving,” “Yerkank,” “Spinning,” “Armenian Pastoral,” etc.
In conclusion, the Government decided to exempt from the payment of entry visa-necessitated State duties those foreign nationals featuring on the list of “Sahakyan” choir due to arrive from Turkey to Armenia for a concert tour this October 14 to 2013.
Lamborghini launch most expensive car in world: Veneno Roadster does 221mph and costs £3.3million
Lamborghini today unveiled the world’s most expensive car – a super-aggressive model costing a staggering £3.36 million.
The jaw-dropping Lamborghini Veneno Roadster is a limited edition hypercar which goes without a roof.
It has been designed by the Italian firm to drive like a race car while being entirely road legal – making it one of the most extreme vehicles ever built.
Lamborghini has fitted the Veneno Roadster with a 750bhp V12 engine which gives the topless motor a 0-62mph time of just 2.9 seconds and a top speed of 220mph.
The radical machine, made of lightweight carbon fibre, follows the hardtop version which was limited to just three and came with a £3 million price-tag.
This is more than ten times the price of the firm’s Aventador model while the same figure could buy 335 Ford Fiestas.
Lamborghini claim every detail of the car’s body has been designed to boost downforce and minimalise drag in an attempt to optimise its handling on the road and track.
It uses a 6.5-litre engine and has a super-fast gearbox which sends the huge power to all four wheels.շ
The car was launched as part of Lamborghini’s 50th anniversary with the nine models being delivered in 2014.
Tainted Liquor Kills 32 in Northern India; 50 Ill
A batch of toxic bootleg liquor killed at least 32 people, mostly poor laborers, and sickened dozens more in northern India, police said Saturday.
Police officer Arvibnd Sen said the victims bought pouches of tainted liquor Thursday from a shop in Adampur village in Uttar Pradesh state.
They started falling sick immediately after drinking the liquor and were taken to local hospitals. Sen said Saturday that 32 people were dead by Friday night.
He said another 50 people were treated in hospitals, and some of them have gone blind because of the toxic brew.
Police arrested the shopkeeper, whose son also died after drinking the tainted liquor, Sen said. He said eight state government officials and four police officers have been suspended as authorities investigate the deaths and possible negligence of duty by the officials in allowing the liquor to be sold.
Deaths from drinking illegally brewed alcohol are common in India because the poor cannot afford licensed liquor. Illicit liquor is often spiked with chemicals such as pesticides to increase potency.
Don’t cry for me Argentina! Diego Maradona hit with £33MILLION tax bill in Italy… but authorities WON’T be able to get hold of any moneyDon’t cry for me Argentina! Diego Maradona hit with £33MILLION tax bill in Italy… but authorities WON’T be able to get hold of any money
Diego Maradona has been hit with a staggering £33million tax bill for alleged unpaid taxes during his successful career with Napoli in the late 1980s.
The ‘hand of God’ footballer, who many consider one of the greatest players of all time, has been notified by Italy’s tax collection agency that it will freeze his assets to pay off the outstanding debt.
However, it is claimed the move is simply a formal procedure – with the papers only having a 180-day validity and therefore having to be renewed whenever Maradona is in Italy.
‘This is not putting pressure,’ said a source at the Equitalia tax recovery agency.
The 52-year-old star, who has been in Milan promoting a DVD series on his life and watching his Napoli play Roma, was handed the tax bill – amounting to 39million euros – in his hotel room.
He is believed to have signed the notification, which legally enables authorities to seize the star’s assets in Italy.
During previous visits to Italy, tax agents have confiscated £3,700 diamond earrings and two Rolex watches worth £9,000 from Maradona.
The former cocaine addict is now a sports ambassador for the United Arab Emirates following his departure from local club Al Wasl in 2012.
President sent a congratulatory message on the occasion of the 80th Anniversary of Politechnik
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French court rules mayors cannot block same-sex marriage
France’s top court ruled Friday that French mayors cannot refuse to officiate same-sex marriages based on their personal, moral or religious beliefs.
The Constitutional Council ruled that the same-sex marriage law does not infringe on the mayors’ “freedom of conscience” and therefore should be applied.
A group of seven mayors had filed an appeal with the Constitutional Council on September 18 stating their opposition to conducting same-sex marriage.
A bill allowing same-sex couples to marry and adopt was passed earlier this year by the French parliament and signed into law by President Francois Hollande.
A growing number of countries around the world now allow same-sex marriage, the majority of them in Europe.
Eugene Kaspersky receives honorary doctorate and discusses viruses and cyber threats in Armenia
Kaspersky Lab announces that Eugene Kaspersky, Chairman and CEO of Kaspersky Lab, received an honorary doctorate from the State Engineering University of Armenia (SEUA), the country’s leading technical university. Eugene Kaspersky and the company’s top IT security experts met representatives of the education and the business community, as well as students from local technical universities during the recent visit to Armenia. They spoke about current cyber threats in Armenia and the wider world and discussed ways to combat them.
“The number of cyber threats is constantly growing, so it is especially important to train more experts who can combat them. The world’s next generation of specialists needs more than just good knowledge of the IT security field and strong practical skills – they also need to be able to think one step ahead and come up with something really new. I am glad to see that today’s students in Armenia are interested in cyber security and are willing to improve and develop in this area. And I’ll be doubly happy if Kaspersky Lab can help them do that,” said Eugene Kaspersky.
One of the highlights of Eugene Kaspersky’s visit was the presentation ceremony where he received a doctorate for his outstanding services to science. The Chairman and CEO of Kaspersky Lab also took part in the official opening of the Kaspersky Lab Training and CertificationCenter within the State Engineering University of Armenia. The Center will help bridge the gap between theoretical and practical education. It also provides future IT security professionals with the necessary knowledge of contemporary technologies, enabling them to gain Kaspersky Lab certification while studying at the university.
“We are deeply appreciative of the role that Kaspersky Lab is playing in the development of information security and the personal contributions Eugene Kaspersky has made as one of the leading experts in information protection. We are sure that Kaspersky Lab’s expertise will help our students become excellent IT professionals,” said Ara Avetisyan, Rector of the State Engineering University of Armenia.
Kaspersky Lab’s successful association with Armenia began four years ago following the signing of a memorandum of understanding entitled ‘Safe Armenia’ with the Ministry of the Economy. This information security project led to the implementation of a number of educational programs in Armenian schools, specialist training for IT administrators in state and commercial organizations and discounted licenses for some Kaspersky Lab products used within government structures.
The cooperation between Kaspersky Lab and the State Engineering University of Armenia began in 2009 when a student of the university won first prize in that year’s edition of the international conference CyberSecurity for the Next Generation. After that, the university registered as a member of Kaspersky Lab’s educational program and signed an agreement on cooperation within the KasperskyAcademy program which remains in effect. In February 2013, SEUA hosted the latest regional round of CyberSecurity for the Next Generation for Russia and other CIS countries.
About Kaspersky Lab
Kaspersky Lab is the world’s largest privately held vendor of endpoint protection solutions. The company is ranked among the world’s top four vendors of security solutions for endpoint users*. Throughout its more than 16-year history Kaspersky Lab has remained an innovator in IT security and provides effective digital security solutions for large enterprises, SMBs and consumers. Kaspersky Lab, with its holding company registered in the United Kingdom, currently operates in almost 200 countries and territories across the globe, providing protection for over 300 million users worldwide. Learn more at www.kaspersky.com.
British diver sets new world record for the longest warm-water scuba dive by spending almost 50 hours on the sea floor
A British diver has set a new world record for the longest warm water scuba dive by spending more than two days underwater.
Sean McGahern, 38, managed to eat, drink and sleep during his 49 hours and 56 minutes at the bottom of the Mediterranean in Malta.
He remained submerged despite enduring strong winds, currents, surge and one metre waves to complete his impressive feat.
Sean, originally from Brighton, East Sussex, kept himself busy by cleaning up the debris that had accumulated on the bottom of the seabed at St George’s Bay.
He spent hours removing rubble including bottles and deck chairs, which were brought up to the surface by the dive team from World Record Diving Malta team and the St. John’s Rescue Corp, who assisted him in his record breaking attempt.
His fiancee and fellow diver Mikaela Papagiorcopulo kept him company and offered kisses of encouragement to help him complete his dive.
He joked and smiled as he emerged from the waters exhausted but ecstatic at his feat and spent the day celebrating.
Sean managed to beat the previous record set by Will Goodman in 2010 which stood at 48 hours, 8 minutes and seven seconds by over an hour.
Chinese couple face jail after selling their baby daughter for £5,000 to buy an iPhone
A young Chinese couple are facing many years in jail after allegedly selling their baby daughter to raise money for an iPhone and other luxury goods.
The couple, identified only as Miss Zhang and Mr Teng, are said to have placed anonymous advertisements in newspapers suggesting they would be willing to part with their baby – unborn at that stage – in exchange for 50,000 yuan (about £5,000).
Police in Shanghai have charged the couple with human trafficking after accepting money for the baby, who was born at home and still only weeks, or months old, when sold.
Having received the money, which was deposited in their bank account, the couple went out on a spending spree, using part of the proceeds to buy an iPhone, State media reported today.
The unemployed couple, who have two other children, were also accused of using the money to purchase a number of luxury goods.
They are understood to have told prosecutors that they were acting in their daughter’s best interests, claiming they had hoped to find a home for her with a financially stable family who would be able to provide her with an eduction.
But prosecutors said they believed the couple’s bank records show they had hatched a ‘sinister conspiracy’ to profit from the sale of the baby.
In an attempt to hide that they were behind the sale of a child, the couple tried to conceal the fact that Miss Zhang was pregnant and she had even gone to the length of giving birth at home.
They are said to have told neighbours that the baby bump during Miss Zhang’s pregnancy was a tumour.
Will the world end in 2032? Ukrainian astronomers discover massive asteroid that could hit the earth with the power of 2,500 nuclear bombs
The world as we know it could end on August 26, 2032.
A 1,300-foot wide asteroid is headed toward Earth and could strike the planet with the force of 2,500 nuclear warheads in 19 years, Ukrainian astronomers have shockingly revealed.
Crimean Astrophysical Observatory found the massive asteroid, called 2013 TV135, last weekend and the international scientific community has already rated it as one of the two most dangerous asteroids ever recorded.
Still, the chances of the object striking Earth are very low, estimated at 1 in 63,000. That means there’s a 99.9984 percent chance that life on the planet will continue as normal.
If the asteroid misses, it is likely to pass very close to Earth – within 1million miles of the planet’s orbit, Russian news agency RIA Novosti reports.
As a result, NASA has deemed the object ‘potentially hazardous.’
Scientists have also given it a danger rating of 1 out of 10 on the Torino Scale. Only one other asteroid has been given a rating of 1. The risk for all others has been judged 0, negligible.
If 2013 TV135 were to collide with Earth, it is estimated to impact with 2,500 megatons of explosive power. The standard U.S. Minute Man II missiles carries a nuclear warhead with an explosive power of a little over 1 megaton.
The effects of an impact would be catastrophic, especially if it struck a populated area.
The asteroid, however, is much smaller than the interplanetary object that hit Earth and killed off the dinosaurs 65million years ago. That asteroid was estimated to be 6 miles in diameter.
After Ukrainian scientists spotted the object last weekend, astronomers at observatories in Spain, Italy and Siberia, Russia, confirmed the existence of 2013 TV135.
The asteroid will be closer in 2024, allowing scientists to better examine its orbit and where it would be likely to hit.