On June 11 the pupils of the tenth form of village Brnakot (Sisian region) left for the area called “Taq Jur” in the Vorotan canyon to have a snack. At about 06:00 PM the schoolgirls posed on a high stone right beside the canyon in order to take a photo.

«We are not begging. We are asking for the money we deserve», claim Ilya Barseghyan and Vladimir Hovsepyan, former miners from Kapan. They have been on a hunger strike since yesterday in the Garegin Nzhdeh square of Kapan. Together with 170 other miners they have been deprived of their disability pension.

The wastes of “Dine Gold Mining Company” turn the village of Syunik into a desert and a swamp, but the workers of the ecological administration of the marz do not take any measures to prevent the ecological disaster.

The volumes of money transfer into Armenia surpass the annual budget of the country forming about 1 billion USD. Nevertheless, the money transfers received by the residents of the country are not mentioned in any documents and cannot be basis for getting hypothec loans.

About 12 thousand pupils of the comprehensive schools in Armenia are to take the school-leaving exams this year. The exam period as established by the RA Ministry of Education and Science is June 12-28.

The fishes (mainly barbells and khramulyas) of the Vachagan River flowing through Kapan were killed yesterday. Today the reason is already known.

Cycling and photo contests were initiated in the city Sisian by the “Sisian Development Centre” NGO with the participation of 3-17-year old children in connection with the International Day of Environment Protection. According to Manvel Soghomonyan, initiator of the ceremony the best participants will have a chance to master computer skills in the “Sisian Development Centre” free of charge.

Deputy Minister of Labor and Social Welfare Filaret Berikyan claims that the question of compensating deposits by the Government is still in effect, and the distribution of money will likely start from July.

Forest-planting will initiate in different regions of about 175 hectares in Shirak marz next year.

The main work of the population of the Gegharqounik region is agriculture, small and medium business, fishing, service in the tourism field, state and social service and work abroad.

Active rehearsals have started in the Gavar State Dramatic theatre after Levon Qalantaryan. The staff of the theatre is preparing for the festival which will be held on July 3.

The markets of the Gegharqounik region as well as the community of village Nor Getashen still continue selling whitefish. Although by the order of the RA Ministry of Ecology it is prohibited to catch whitefish in 2006, still fishing does not stop in Sevan.

The 7th pan-Armenian festival of intellectual games took place in the cultural house after gousan Ashot. The participants of the festival came from different regions of Armenia – Tavoush, Shirak, Lori, Syunik, Yerevan and Artsakh.

With the assistance and cooperation of Jinishyan Fund, “Public Dialogues and Initiatives Centre” NGO, the State University of Gavar and the Pedagogical Institute of Gyumri the program “Civic dialogue and practical steps” has initiated in these two establishments since June of 2005. The program is aimed at raising the level of students’ awareness and engaging them into the development of civic society.

A new factory processing sugar beet is to be built in Akhouryan. The preliminary works of the construction are already under way.

Today Khachatour Vardanyan, head of the Government Personnel Regional Board introduced the personnel of the Shirak regional council Ashot Petrosyan, head of the Gyumri branch of United Labor Party in the post of the deputy regional governor

It is already 5 days there are serious damages in the water system of Kavart, Lenhanker, David-Bek, Lernagortsner and Barabatum districts of Kapan. The above mentioned districts were fully deprived of water last week.

The list of honorable citizens of the city Gavar was added by 3 ones. The 3 newly formed initiative groups aroused the issue of favoring them as honorable citizens of the town which was accepted unanimously by the members of the Gavar councillor. Those citizens were Hrant Hakobyan, the founder and the first rector of the Gavar University and the current chairman of the University council, Vazgen Martirosyan,...

16 workers of the “ArmenTel” Toumanyan telephone service department were informed that they are considered to be unemployed since yesterday, May 15. The doors of their rooms are already closed. The reduction of the staff members was held without any warning and without any warrants. The workers claim that the administration is unaware of it, the order of the reduction was issued by the regional board of “ArmenTel.” None of them signed at the...

By now 19 500 hectares of land have been sown in Gegharqounik region. The rains are the main obstacle for the sowing works. Alongside with the works, the communities of the region continue to get fertilizers.

For the last most the level of Lake Sevan has risen for 25 centimeters. According to the Gegharqounik regional department of «ArmHydroMet», at present the lake is 1898, 42 meters above the sea level. The reason is the heavy rains of April and the partial overflow of the rivers falling into the Sevan.

The construction work prescribed by the program “Garegin II” initiated in Gavar with blessings of Markos Hovhannisyan, member of the Gegharkunik eparchy.

The number of patients having cancer has increased in the region Shirak. Among them are many women with breast cancer. 408 patients with breast cancer were registered in hospitals according to the data of 2005. The majority of them are under 40. As for man, they mainly suffer from lung, gastrointestinal tract and urogenital organs cancer. The illness is getting younger alongside with the increase of patients.

A section of the Arjut - Spitak railway was damaged alongside with the adjacent sowing areas because of the overflow of the river Pambak. It resulted in the violation of the Yerevan - Tbilisi passenger service traffic. According to the head of the Gyumri station Vahan Gasparyan the results of the accident have been already eliminated and the railway works normally according to its schedule.