The Armenian parliament debated amendments and changes to a number of laws: On Taxes, On Budget System and On Local Self-Government. The revision of the list of local taxes caused a heated debate among MPs. In particular, representatives of Prosperous Armenia offered to organize additional hearings, involving all interested stakeholders to finalize this package of legislative initiatives.

The process of normalization of Armenian-Turkish relations has entered, so to speak, homestretch, the most interesting fact being Armenia’s (for the first time) more advantageous situation in comparison with Turkey. In this regard, the visit of U.S. Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg to Yerevan was a landmark event that almost clashed with the arrival of first Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov. U.S. and Russia have obviously decided not to interfere with each other in forcing Turkey to ratify the Protocols, meanwhile clearly adhering to their own interests.

The140th birth anniversary of Komitas was marked in Kaiser-Wilhelm Church in Berlin last week. The event started with a service offered by Archimandrite Eghishe, the spiritual leader of the Armenian community of Berlin.

The internal political life of Armenia acquired its former course, and the past week was marked by the visits of a number of distinguished guests from neighbouring countries. Yerevan hosted Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki, Prime Minister of Georgia Nikoloz Gilauri and Mayor of Moscow Yuri Luzhkov. The week was also devoted to various estimates by political forces and experts concerning the trilateral meeting between the Presidents of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Russia in Sochi.

For the past month the focus of Internet-users and IT specialists around the world has been on three main events, namely the completion of the new operating system Windows 7 - the product of Microsoft Corporation, the release of the fast browser Chrome by Google and the work on our own operating system (OS).

On April 11, the Armenian Apostolic Church (AAC) begins to celebrate the Easter, one of the six patronal festivals. From sunset till late night all the churches of the Armenian Apostolic Church serve Liturgy that marks the end of Lent and the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. The celebration of the dead and resurrected god dates back to the ancient Egyptian religion, when the Egyptians celebrated the death and resurrection of God Osiris. Present Christian Easter takes its origin from the Old Testament. The old Jews celebrated the Passover (Pesach) as the holiday of exodus of Jews from Egypt.